Whatdufaque?! Dutch artist Renée Van Trier is back on Swiss label CAF? for another record! Following her first album released in early 2020, she comes back with “HUMBLE,” the soundtrack of her new eponymous show performed at De Pont Museum (NL) and Arsenic (CH).
“At birth you are a promise, but at the same time also the greatest possible risk.” Inspired by children’s dances on TikTok where happy facades coexist with exploitative backgrounds, Renée Van Trier creates a fantasy world that’s anything but Disneyland. You’re invited to experience its soundtrack, taking you through dark atmospheres, eerie voices, glitched techno, and uplifting climaxes. Over the course of the 11 tracks, Renée Van Trier morphs into a dolphin, a puppet, and many other different characters, maintaining a blurry border between amazement and creepiness. Everyone wants the best for their children, but sometimes it doesn’t end well.
Suche:re birth
- Prologue
- Main Title
- Flashback
- Dad's Death
- Tina's Theme
- The Pier 12 Years Later
- Matchbook Exercise
- Tina Simmons
- Jason Resurrected
- Tina's Vision
- This Is Some Birthday
- Mom I Saw Him Again
- Dan & Judy
- Jason Impales Dan
- Sleeping Bag Bush
- Nick & Tina
- Pearls Go Flying
- I Hate This Place
- Flying Tv
- Skinny Dip
- Russel Gets Axed
- Mom In The Study
- Tina Overhears Crash
- Death From Above
- Kate's Murder
- Nick And Tina Find Mike
- Blood On The Floor
- It Was Him In The Lake
- Robin's Death
- Human Body Shield
- Death By Bush Trimmer
- Tina Finds Mom And Meets Jason
- Jason Comes Up For Air / Jason Unmasked!
- Jason Grabs Tina / Nails / Tina Burns Jason
- Resurrecting Dad
- Ambulance / Where's Jason? We Took Care Of Him
- End Title
- End Credits
The debut release of FRIDAY THE 13TH PART VII: THE NEW BLOOD Original Motion Picture Soundtrack By Harry Manfredini and Fred Mollin! Available for the very first time in any format, Waxwork worked closely with Paramount Pictures to locate the original 1988 master tapes in the Paramount vault. Archived away for many years, and thought to have been lost, multiple master tapes containing the the complete score by composer Fred Mollin have been located, transferred, and re-mastered for this deluxe double vinyl release. Also included in this double album are the complete original soundtrack cues featured in the movie and composed by Friday the 13th veteran, Harry Manfredini.
FRIDAY THE 13TH PART VII: THE NEW BLOOD is a 1988 American Slasher-Horror movie that follows a psychokinetic teenage girl who inadvertently unleashes Jason Voorhees from his grave in Crystal Lake. The film features, for the first time, actor / stuntman Kane Hodder, as Jason Voorhees. Hodder would go on to portray Jason in numerous Friday The 13th films.
Waxwork Records is excited to present the definitive FRIDAY THE 13TH PART VII: THE NEW BLOOD soundtrack by including, for the first time, the complete film music by both composers Harry Manfredini and Fred Mollin. Features include 2xLP 180 gram “Psychokinetic Splatter” colored vinyl, deluxe packaging, new artwork by Sarah Deck, the complete soundtrack sourced from the original 1988 master tapes, and heavyweight gatefold jackets with satin coating.
Out February 23rd on translucent orange vinyl for the album's 15th anniversary: Fucked Up’s now classic album 'The Chemistry Of Common Life' synthesizes numerous diverse impulses into an expansive epic about the mysteries of birth, death, and the origins of life (and re-living).
Merging elements of hardcore songwriting with up to 70 tracks of guitars, organs, winds and vocals, (including 18 guitars on the first single, the fatalistic “No Epiphany”), the music remains iconoclastic and startling, with Pink Eyes’ vocals front and center. Guest musicians, of course, abound, notably gorgeous voices such as Brooklyn’s Vivian Girls and Toronto’s Katie Stelmanis.
Fucked Up"s now classic 2008 album The Chemistry Of Common Life synthesizes numerous diverse impulses into an expansive epic about the mysteries of birth, death, and the origins of life (and re-living). Merging elements of hardcore songwriting with up to 70 tracks of guitars, organs, winds and vocals, (including 18 guitars on the first single, the fatalistic "No Epiphany"), the music remains iconoclastic and startling, with Pink Eyes" vocals front and center. Guest musicians, of course, abound, notably gorgeous voices such as Brooklyn"s Vivian Girls and Toronto"s Katie Stelmanis.
Repress!
When Network Records originally issued “Innovator” in 1991 we knew that the music contained within was timeless. At that time, of course, we had no grasp of how well Derrick’s epic soundscapes would time travel. We christened the collection - “Soundtrack For The Tenth Planet” - because it seemed like the music (and Derrick) had indeed arrived from another world.
The release has been acclaimed as iconic because Derrick, the madcap and maverick philosopher of Detroit Techno, introduced the concept of dance music with a musical and emotional agenda way beyond anything that had come before. Beats with beauty. Literally the strings of life. Where fellow musical geniuses Chic had previously urged everybody to simply "Dance, Dance, Dance" mood alchemist Mayday merged simple yet cerebral dreamscapes with strange and urgent complex dance rhythms and invited us all to Dance And Dream. And in a strange juxtaposed way helped birth the hedonistic Acid House scene with classics “Nude Photo” and “Strings Of Life”
The energy is frenetic, but merged with a new age ambience. The gems collected on this offering were iconic in 1991, now they cause mass hysteria when Derrick turns his one time musical experiments, created in a tiny room in Detroit, and turns them into epic concerts with orchestras and musicians across the globe. “Hand In Hand” existed in 1991 and we wanted to release it then, but it’s taken until now for the complete 13 minute recording to finally meet the world.
It will be revered, because like all of Derrick May’s music it is life affirming. Emotions Electric indeed.
The original “Innovator” release was housed on one single slab of wax. This time around we have expanded it to two discs to make space for “Hand Over Hand” and also so everything elsewhere - masterpieces remastered - can be presented in a complete and superior fashion. Whatever the tweaks, changes and updates etc all these years on, this music still sounds gloriously alien and groundbreaking. But there’s still no Tenth Planet.
"Innovator" remastered by Curvepusher, London 2019. Re-presented by Network Records in conjunction with Derrick May.
Otis Jackson Jr. aka Madlib is one of Hip Hop's most inspirational producers. With self-produced classic releases such as Quasimoto, Madvillain with MF Doom, Piñata with Freddie Gibbs, Jaylib co-produced with the great J Dilla, and Bad Neighbor with Blu and MED, He proves He is in his own lane and the best at loop digging. Madlib doesn't disappoint and delivers heavy bangers on his new release 'Flying High Instrumentals'. LMD (LMNO, MED, and DECLAIME) provided a solid performance on the vocal version of Flying High with stellar bars throughout the album, so its only right BYH gives you the beats to vibe to from the sensei himself.... Madlib the Bad Kid.
Psychedelic Anxiety, as a mood, goes something like this: overwhelming, existential, vertigoic, arising when we stare into the void. This metaphysical unease also serves as the title for Brooklyn-based musician Frances Chang’s second album, and as a feeling it’s present throughout, charged by all things occultish. Recorded by Chang and engineer Andrea Schiavelli, featuring a cast of revered NYC DIY players, including Schiavelli (Eyes of Love) and Liza Winter (Birthing Hips), Psychedelic Anxiety relishes in the refining of aesthetic, in the electricity of improvisation, in balancing bleakness with humor. It embodies an idiosyncratic genre Chang calls slacker prog — offbeat, but brimming with spiritual and emotional resonance. The record infuses artifacts of the mundane with otherworldliness— even the love songs live more in the realm of fantasy (or horror) than the romantic. The psychic twin and mirror image of Chang’s 2022 debut full-length Support Your Local Nihilist, Psychedelic Anxiety by comparison is less urgent, leaving space for more nuance and storytelling. Together, these albums represent a new cycle of creativity for Chang, a reset to zero. “Eye Land,” captures Chang on a tour around the Irish and English countryside, in a moment of major life change. “Lying around your spare room,” she sings, “Sky is cloudy here in June.” Around her, guitar sputters and stops. Vocals branch off like vines on the side of an old house. It is a profoundly lovely song, a freaky miniature in the way that a Broadcast song is a freaky miniature. “Darkside” opens up with a particularly memorable narrative moment. “Last night I saw Parasite,” sings Chang, describing how she saw it alone, how regular life that week was acute, weird, intense. How she found comfort in resignation. After all: Psychedelic Anxiety is a serene, bizarre record full of alien sounds and big introspection.
With "Onaida", Natascha Rogers shares a liberating folk spell that draws inspirations from Yoruba spirits, Afro-Latin rhythms and her Native American ancestry. Born in the Netherlands to a Dutch mother and a father with Amerindian origins, Natascha Rogers dares to be intimate and unveils a highly spiritual chiaroscuro record, raising purity, care and reconciliation to the level of the art, through folk enchantments. Sensitive to the ancestral call of the drums, she travelled the Black Atlantic for several years and received the teachings of the greatest Mandingo and Afro-Cuban master percussionists. As a distinguished percussionist and vocalist, she has graced the stage and has accompanied artists around the world, but for Onaida she set out on her own, retreating to a studio to escape the noise, rush and fast information cycles of our modern world. This album marks a rebirth for Natascha Rogers, as it symbolizes her return to the piano, her first instrument. Channelling these inspirations for Onaida, Natascha Rogers, has created a space of her own, where themes of humanity, spirituality, nature and womanhood are centre stage while also paying tribute to her ancestors. Sung in English, Spanish, or Yoruba, the album is a tapestry of intimate ballads and universal prayers, drawing inspiration from dreams, Amerindian poetry (Joy Harjo), and Cuban santería with ritualistic batá drum pulsations. On the powerful folk-tinged song "The West", she invited gifted singer-songwriter Piers Faccini. Onaida is a true initiatory experience, a second birth for Natascha Rogers who finds balance and accuracy with this singular opus. Natascha Rogers headed to the quiet commune of Pommerit-le-Vicomte, to write this new release, accompanied by sound engineer Joachim Olaya and published on acclaimed French imprint No Format!
In the beginning was a half-truth, the truth was of war and the half-truth was post-war. Fancying the pretensions of its cultural superiority, a continent chose to hide the truth behind ridiculous jargon and the soothing distance of offshored ?????????. Europe wished itself beyond war because it thought the privilege of peace a birthright, just as it refused to understand that post-war was a euphemism for interbellum. Then the truth has set us free.
The delusion was discarded and war was revealed as an inconceivable horror. Almost immediately it turned familiar and virtually comfortable. Novelty songs of drones gutting tanks became a laughing matter and the burning tanks, their crew inside, entertainment. Consequently, a plurality of people started to collectively dream of new stages of the righteous kind of carnage. This happened within weeks.
Our imagination has swollen to the point of loss of consciousness, compounded by the narrative form long in the sways of atrophy. All of this raises the question of to what degree were the years of peace culturally squandered. The art of the previous age prided itself on self-awareness, today we fail to even notice that we no longer recognize ourselves. But we have arrived where we started and our issues were not too complex for expression.
Since no art form generates action, the most appropriate art for a culture on the edge of extinction is one that simulates pain. In these times we shouldn't produce any other music, none but this, intended to prevent our silence from being misinterpreted.
Limited pastel red LP version! 2022 RZA LP, who reprises his own Bobby Digital Production Persona for this one, produced in association with DJ Scratch. Back in 1998, RZA had already cemented his status as Wu-Tang Clan's man behind the boards, producing the entirety of the group's respective solo albums. But when it came to his own breakout moment, the producer opted to introduce the world to Bobby Digital, a cartoonishly hedonistic mad-rapping alter-ego and grew so fond of the character that he released another album under the moniker before finally delivering 2003's Birth of a Prince as the RZA. Now it seems Bobby Digital is back in the picture and potentially set square up with his host. On Friday, RZA announced a new album, RZA vs. Bobby Digital, with the release of the hard-hitting new single, "Saturday Afternoon Kung Fu Theater." According to a press release, production on the album is handled by DJ Scratch. "Giving Scratch the reins as a producer and me taking the reins as an MC, that's what frees me up creatively and lets me play more with lyrical gags and lyrical flows because I don't have to be focused on everything," the producer noted in a statement. The new single marks the second Bobby Digital drop of the year, following "Pugilism," which was slated to be featured on the long-rumored project, The Cure, but seems to be a part of another upcoming collection of songs under the moniker titled Digital Potions. However, neither of those projects have a firm release date at the moment.
Musica Per Immagini is about to go beyond vinyl reissues of soundtracks and music libraries, with a brand new series of products.
From 2024 onwards, it will release a series of albums of contemporary and electronic music often "inspired by" different sources, both sonic, if not literary and cinematographic. A way to embrace the future without forgetting the past.
Heinrich Dressel's “Polarlys” is the first album of unreleased tracks published by Musica Per Immagini, or a soundtrack for a imaginary noir film set in the icy waters of northern Europe, inspired by the book “The Mystery of the Polarlys” by Georges Simenon. Drones and ethereal atmospheres are paired with a cinematic background in order to describe the frost of the northern seas and the restlessness of the journey: beyond the classic analog sounds, a specific use of additive and vector synthesis particularly in vogue during the Nineties and typical of vintage synthesizers.
Back in stock.
Here’s a brand new Rob Stow four track EP ! His first full EP for 20 years.
Rob was a huge part of the birth of the label back in 2000. During 1998/1999 he ran his own label Gravitation and played live with Jerome Hill under the name Groove Asylum, amassing a bunch of tracks which led to the birth of Don’t as a home to release them for others to play.
Rob knows his onions when it comes to Techno and this record is everything it should be. Hard hitting, expertly produced, minimal with no clutter or pointless frills but instead, just the right amount of lean dance floor funk.
• The first up to date, post-pandemic, no-borders era book to cover Berlin’s role as an electronic music and cultural capital. Coming To Berlin breaks the tradition of Berlin’s perception as techno ground zero and shows the true diversity and richness that make up the city.
• Connects musical and cultural dots over a 120 year timeline, including the Weimar era, krautrock, the 80s art scene that involved Einsturzende Neubauten and Nick Cave, the East Berlin punk movement, through to Berlin’s role as a techno capital with the Love Parade, Tresor and Berghain, and into the post-techno, post-genre, post-gender future that takes in the refugee crisis, gentrification, ambience and lockdown.
• Written by a former Londoner who made Berlin his home, the book captures nuances and details of living in Berlin that will be immediately relateble to fellow Berliners yet at the same time captures the city’s creative, free-living essence to anyone with a curiosity for Berlin and a love of electronic music.
Coming To Berlin reflects, through the lives and music of migrants, settlers and newcomers, how a constantly in flux city with a tumultuous history has evolved into the de facto cultural capital of Europe. And how at the heart of this, electronic music and club culture play a unique role. A plea for multiculturalism and a love letter to the borderless potential of music, the book breaks the tradition of Berlin’s perception as techno ground zero and shows the true diversity and richness that make up this city.
Told through Paul Hanford’s novelistic narration, Coming To Berlin mixes imagination and interview, psychogeography and narrative, humour and horror. Each chapter follows encounters with people who have made the city their own. Club legends Mark Reeder, Danelle DePicciotto and Monika Kruse. The journey of a young Syrian refugee who has immersed himself in DJing and UK Drill. Ferruccio Busoni, an Italian Weimar era composer whose influence has echoed subliminally for over a century.
We catch glimpses of the 1980s punk and art movement, the Genialle Dillentanten, and how it led towards the birth of modern club culture in the city. We follow the Turkish hip-hop scene on the streets of Kreuzberg. And under threat from gentrification, into the post-pandemic world where clubs, a thirty-year long pulse stopped, we hang out with artists reshaping electronic music into new genres and even new genders.
- A1: Lab Technicians - We Gave U Life
- A2: Aural Exciter - U = Euphoria
- A3: Original Clique - "F" (Whistle Mix)
- B1: Pierrepoint - Tonnerre
- B2: A.e.k. - Lick It
- B3: Zubbizerretta - Wake The Town (Somnabulist Mix)
- C1: Estudiantes - Let The Music Into Your Mind
- C2: Zeco - The Witch Trials
- C3: Big Showdown - They're Here
- D1: The Rhythm Squad - Animal House (Original Mix)
- D2: The Rhythm Squad - Manhunt (Instrumental)
- D3: Nine-L - Islands, Part 2
volume II[25,17 €]
Tony Boninsegna: Notes From The Underground 1986-1994 (Volumes 1 and 2) Cold Blow / Musique Pour La Danse
The story of dance music is littered with hidden heroes and underground activists whose immense contributions have been overlooked, ignored and under-documented. Tony Boninsegna, a producer who made and released countless classic cuts and forgotten gems during the acid house and rave era, is one such example.
Melding elements of all that was popular in underground clubs at the time to create his own dancefloor-friendly sound worlds, Boninsegna amassed a huge catalogue between 1986 and '94, while hiding his involvement via an array of oddball aliases and opaque pseudonyms. Boninsegna's story first came to light four years ago when he appeared in Join The Future: Bleep Techno and the Birth of British Bass Music, Matt Anniss's critically acclaimed alternative history of UK dance music in the rave era. Now Cold Blow has joined forces with Musique Pour La Danse to deliver a much-needed anthology of his greatest productions and
co-productions - many rare or hard-to-find - for the first time.
Featuring 24 restored and remastered tracks stretched across two volumes on vinyl and digital, including a handful of previously unreleased tracks and mixes, and accompanied by detailed sleeve notes by Anniss, Notes From The Underground 1986-1994 is a joyful celebration of one of British dance music's most under-appreciated artists. The full breadth and depth of Boninsegna's rave-ready catalogue, as well as an indication of
the sheer volume of aliases he utilised during the period, is explored in detail across the two-part compilation.
Fittingly, volume one features two previously unreleased recordings that mark his earliest explorations of the emerging house sound (both as The Rhythm Squad, with Richard Compton), alongside touchstone releases such as Zeco's 'The Witch Trials' (a 1989 production that marked his first outing on vinyl), celebrated workouts recorded with regular collaborator Mykey Tee (Lab Technicians' bleep-inspired 'We Gave U Life', Big Showdown's epic 'They're Here' and AEK's mind-mangling, bleep & breaks number 'Lick It'), and genuinely overlooked gems (the proto-tribal house of Pierrepoint's acid-smothered 'Tonnerre' and saucer-eyed rush of Estudiantes' 'Let The Music Into Your Mind').
It all adds up to the definitive musical retrospective of a genuine underground, rave-era hero whose time in the spotlight may finally have arrived.
- A1: Main Title
- A2: The Giant Tail
- A3: Facing Fear
- A4: A Close Call
- A5: Godzilla Appears In Nemuro
- A6: In The Ocean Depths
- A7: A Sleeep Of 60 Million Years
- A8: The Object From Outer Space / Unusual Phenomenon
- A9: The Self Defence Force Mobilizes
- A10: Godzilla’s Theme 2000
- A11: End Title – The Feared God Godzilla
- B1: The Object From Outer Space Flight
- B2: Eerie Silence
- B3: Eerie Silence Ii
- B4: Ominous Premonition
- B5: The Wonder Of G Revealed
- B6: The Flight Of The Giant Ufo
- B7: The Earth Invasion
- B8: Before The Explosion
- B9: Millennium
- B10: Thinking Of Dad
- B11: Millennial Kingdom
- C1: Miraculous Survival
- C2: Organizer – Godzilla’s Theme
- C5: Extraterrestrial Life/The Metamorphosis
- C6: Astonishing Resurrection
- C7: Millennial Kingdom
- C8: G’s Decision
- C9: The Space Monster Ironic Fate
- C10: End Title – The Feared God Godzilla
- C11: End Title – The Feared God Godzilla Ii
- C3: Extraterrestrial Life /The Birth
- C4: Rising Tension
He's back - again! Years after the end of the Heisei era, the big G came back to film in 1999 with the first of a new era: GODZILLA 2000: MILLENNIUM. Directed by Takao Okawara (GODZILLA VS. DESTOROYAH), a new look Godzilla is still harassing Tokyo, with the Godzilla Prediction Network out there trying to figure out where he'll show up next. To make matters worse, the government's Crisis Control Intelligence care more about firing missiles, but everything changes when they discover a mysterious meteor has a UFO inside. All of this results in Orga, a kaiju made from Godzilla's DNA, and of course it's up to the Big G to kick its ass back to space. Scoring GODZILLA 2000 was Takayuki Hattori, who had previously composed 1994's GODZILLA VS. SPACEGODZILLA. Hattori's music is very much about mood; the composer brings a sense of lyricism to proceedings, but of course, he also knows how to get us excited for Godzilla's appearances. Hattori does that with a spectacular new theme for the Big G that perfectly captures the creature's grandeur and immense power. There's also a fantastic piece for the UFO that has a wonderfully primevil beat, and of course, Akira Ifukube's classic theme for Godzilla returns in a big way. A perfect start to the Millennium era! (Charlie Brigden)
Artwork by Matt Ryan Tobin
2X 140gram Eco-Vinyl
FOR FANS OF: Guru Guru, Birth Control, Kraan, Grobschnitt
Dieses neue Album steht für den einzigartigen Sound, den VIOLETTE SOUNDS seit der Zusammenarbeit mit Loten Namling kreiert haben.
Und konnten VIOLETTE SOUNDS bereits mit ihren ersten beiden Alben musikalisch überzeugen, hat ihnen das Hinzufügen von World Music Elementen und Lotens tibetanischen Gesängen ein absolutes Alleinstellungsmerkmal verschafft.
VIOLETTE SOUNDS sind progressiv, atmosphärisch, jazzig und rocken dennoch ordentlich, was nicht nur an der musikalischen Prägung des 70er Jahre Rock Karl Hennebergs liegt, sondern auch an der Performance von Loten Namling, der als ausgewiesener Rock/Metal-Fan auch schon mit den brasilianischen Metallern von Sepultura auf der Bühne stand.
Während andere Bands verzweifelt versuchen, verschiedene Musikstile miteinander in Einklang zu bringen und Musik neu zu gestalten, gelingt dies VIOLETTE SOUNDS scheinbar mühelos.
Musik kennt eben keine Grenzen und ist die einzige Sprache, die weltweit ohne Wörterbuch verständlich ist
Meltheads have been spreading wildfire on stages in Belgium and The Netherlands for a good while now, driven by the metronomically tight rhythm section of Tim Pensaert (bass) and Simon de Geus (drums), and fuelled by the razor-sharp and skilful guitar of Yunas de Proost. And then there’s frontman Sietse Willems, a man born to be on stage, like Morrison, Plant and Iggy Pop in one brutal and gnarly package. On 9 February they will be releasing the long-awaited debut album ‘Decent Sex’. The album kicks off with the title track, linking Stooges to The Doors, and not beating about the bush: it’s going to be at breakneck speed, and it’s going to be loud. Just 30 minutes later, once the final notes of fever dream Melvin have died out, ‘Decent Sex’ leaves you knocked out on the floor after an insane trip along blaring post punk, visceral noise, sweeping psych and good old rock ‘n’ roll. Part of the world is already turning its head, as renowned radio stations like KEXP and Radio X Manchester are picking up songs like I Want It All and Theodore, and fellow Antwerp based rock legends dEUS took them on tour, even as far as London’s Electric Brixton. Influential music magazines like Visions (DE), Clash and DIY (UK) dug up superlatives – and comparisons to The Birthday Party – for Theodore, a song about looking for (self) love, but also about the mess drug use can lead to. All not very uplifting, and most themes return in several songs, like the dark side to relationships and sex (White Lies, Decent Sex), or toxic masculinity (Vegan Leather Boots, Theodore again) and even politics (No One Is Innocent, Arbeit). Pretty heavy stuff, but wrapped in the highly infectious and piercing guitar rock Meltheads are serving, it’s going like a bomb. Decent Sex is out on 9 February, followed by release shows in Belgium, The Netherlands and Paris. At the end of January, Meltheads will vigorously kick off the year with a show at the highly influential ESNS showcase festival, where the part of the world that is still in blissful ignorance will get to know the brute force of Meltheads.
Decent Sex by Meltheads, released 9 February 2024, includes the following tracks: "Vegan Leather Boots ", "White Lies ", "No One Is Innocent ", "Gear " and more.
- A1: Clan Of Xymox - Stranger (Demo)
- A2: Det Gylne Triangel - Maskindans
- A3: Zahgurim - The Living Room
- B1: The Human League - 4Jg
- B2: Liaisons Dangereuses - Dias Cortas
- B3: Sociedades En Tetra Brik - Detector Martenot (Original Version)
- C1: Batang Frisco - Sewing Machine
- C2: Chris And Cosey - Hybrid C
- C3: Im Namen Des Volkes - Alles Ist Gewinn
- D1: Stephen Huss - Infinity Sign
- D2: Richard Bone - Alternate Music For The Hindenberg Lounge
repressed !
Birthed at the turn of the ‘80s, synth and wave music has remained a constant force over the last four decades, with a recent spike in interest in the sound offering further proof of its’ timeless, out-of-this-world quality. It’s against this backdrop that Dutch DJ Interstellar Funk presents his celebration of the style, “Artificial Dancers – Waves of Synth”.
A bumper compilation bristling with obscure and hard-to-find gems, the set sees the Artificial Dance label founder joining the dots between synthesizer and drum machine-driven tracks in a variety of subtly different styles. It’s the result of hundreds of hours spent digging through dusty old records, tapes, and the Bandcamp accounts of DIY musicians who have been active since the sound’s first boom in the early 1980s.
The 11-track set draws on tracks made and released at different times over the last 40 years, with the earliest cut committed to tape in 1978 and the most recent in 2018. While the tracks date from the ‘80s, ‘90s, noughties and 2010s, the showcased cuts are united by a primitive but futuristic quality that makes dating them difficult. In many cases, it’s hard to tell which tracks were made in the early 1980s and which were conjured up in 21st century studios.
As you’d expect, highlights are plentiful with a number of the most unknown or sought-after cuts appearing on vinyl for the first time. In this category you’ll find the Human League’s odd but inspired early number “4JG”, a near mythical 1982 live version of Liasons Dangereuses’ “Dias Cortas” (previously only available on a VHS video) and Chris and Cosey’s “Hybrid C”, a brilliant mid-’90s cut plucked from their CD-only album “Skimble Skamble”. You’ll also find a rare demo version of Clan of Xymox’s Dutch darkwave classic “Stranger”, which became a club smash across Europe in 1983.
Interstellar Funk has also chosen to showcase tracks by a range of DIY producers and lesser-known artists. These include Californian band Batang Frisco, who self-released a sole private press album in 1986 (their contribution, “Sewing Machine”, is dedicated to founder member Bill DiMichele, who passed away this year), Matthias Schuster’s Im Namen Des Volkes project – which contributes the previously unreleased 2014 track “Alles Ist Gewinn” – and Zahgurim, a short-lived early ‘80s act who reunited in 2018 to record their first new material since 1983.
If that wasn’t enough to set pulses racing, the compilation also showcases a solo track by sadly departed Psyche member Stephen Huss. Nobody is quite sure when Huss recorded “Infinity Sign”, but we can confirm this is the first time that one of his solo productions has ever appeared on vinyl.
***After birthing Street Riffs, their hi-definition, hi-energy, statement from 2020, CCR Headcleaner turned inward. The retreat from the pro-studio to the home studio was partially by design and partially decided by global events. Cleaner is very much a pandemic album, more of a homespun head trip than its predecessors. At the same time guitarist, songwriter and spiritual center of the group, Lacey Emmanuel, left the Bay for the shores of Lake Michigan. By most accounts an apocalyptic live-band became by and large a home recording animal. This is most apparent when Headcleaner turns up the balladry. “Don’t Feel the End” is a proto-metal campfire anthem, and “Everyday” hovers somewhere between keyboard misfit John Bender and the White Album. Make no mistake, the record will still be filed under “Punk” at your local record shop. It kicks off with “the brining pt. 2” the hottest slice of Funhouse free-rock that the band has committed to record. “Too Much” gives us its jail abolition rap over a two chord hardcore stomp. In a town (San Francisco) that is experiencing something of a DIY pop renaissance, Headcleaner has always fought to establish the fact that they have actual songs. This is no 70s throwback, but instead an attempt to up the ante. Without all the rock histrionics, technical arrogance and misogyny can the rock riff deliver on its ultimate promise: heavy music for total liberation. All tracks were mixed and lovingly fucked with by none other than Eric Bauer at his Bauer Mansion (RIP) Chinatown SF.




















