Die Krupps came together in 1981 as a duo comprised of vocalist, guitarist, keyboardist, and mouthpiece Jurgen Engler, formerly of the German punk outfit Male, and ex-Propaganda member Ralf Dorper. Over the course of the group's first three records, 1981's Stahlwerksinfonie, 1982's Volle Kraft Voraus, and 1984's Entering the Arena, Die Krupps continued to refine its lyrically bleak, synth-based sound.
Entering The Arena is an excellent example of synth sound combined with industrial sounds. A must have for all synth enthusiasts!
TRACKLISTING:
"Risk" - 3:54
"Rise and Fall" - 5:32
"Communication Breakdown" - 3:02
"Risky Soul Version" - 6:34
"Gladiators" - 5:26
"Your Voice" - 5:38
"Communication Breakdown" (Don't Speak Mix) - 3:12
"This Day Is Not the Last" - 3:55
"Risk" (Operatic Intro) - 3:52
"Risk" (Metallic Outro) - 3:17
This sampler was given away free to anyone who ordered the first Mutebank catalague "Statement 1" at the launch of the Mutebank. It contains the most important Mute Records artists and it gives an overview of the gretness of Mute Records.
TRACKLISTING:
DISC 1
1 - Barry Adamson - The Snowball Effect
2 - The Balanescu Quartet - The Model
3 - Simon Bonney - Don't Walk Away From Love
4 - Cabaret Voltaire - Nag Nag Nag
5 - Can - Mushroom
6 - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Nobody's Baby Now
7 - Depeche Mode - Walking In My Shoes (Live)
8 - Dinosaur Jr. - Freak Scene
9 - Einsturzende Neubaten & Anita Lane - Blume
10 - Erasure - Always
11 - Fortran 5 - Time To Dream
12 - Diamanda Galas - You're Mine
13 - Holger Hiller - Whippets
14 - Inspiral Carpets - Saturn 5
15 - Juno Reactor - High Energy Protons
16 - Laibach - The Final Countdown
17 - Miranda Sex Garden - Peepshow
18 - Moby - Feeling So Real
DISC 2
1 - Nitzer Ebb - Kick It
2 - Non - Cleanliness And Order
3 - Parallax - Push For The Love Of Life (Savage Mix)
4 - Plastikman - Plastique (Short)
5 - Rancho DIablo - Chicken World
6 - Renegade SOundwave - Positive Id
7 - Rosa Mota - Hopey
8 - Sonic Youth - Teen Age Riot
9 - Spk - In Flagrante Delicto
10 - Mark Stewart - Hysteria
11 - Phase - Voo Doo Pop
12 - Throbbing Gristle - Hot On The Wheels Of Love
13 - Frank Tovey & The Pyros - The Liberty Tree
14 - Wire - Kidney Bingos
15 - Yazoo - Winter Kills
I would like to give you my best Christmas greetings. I hope it will be a wonderful xmas for you and your families and I wish you come back here soon for new releases.
In 2003 and 2004 Swedish sensations The Legends received world wide recognition with the hyped debut Up against the Legends. Now they return with an album, their first Australian release, bound to take the world by surprise. Public Radio echoes of the early 80’s and sounds futuristic at the same time, mixing influences from bands like New Order, Felt, Feelies and The Cure, but with a unique pop aesthetic to turn it into something utterly wonderful and new.
From the debut to today, The Legends have transformed from a 9-piece band to a one-man project. At least officially. The truth is that both Up against the Legends and Public Radio were recorded, written, played and produced by Johan Angergård (also member of Acid House Kings). Johan explains, "When I start recording an album I have a very clear idea of what I want to do and by doing everything myself the album comes out exactly the way I want it to. Involving other people might only blur the vision."
Yes, Johan is certainly an inspired gentleman. As a result Public Radio delivers a focussed Legends outlook on life, embracing a cohesively innovative approach that embarks on a musical turn a second.
The Legends happily list Television Personalities, Comet Gain, Motown and C-86 as inspirations to their sound, but it’d be hard to ignore the significant nod to Manchester, circa 1983, that Angergard embeds in his songwriting today. It’s all tracked here on Public Radio, a major development for the band. Accomplished, timeless, and somehow simultaneously personal and detached, a stellar effort from the new generation of musical masterminds.
What critics said about The Legends’ debut album Up Against The Legends. . .
“Who The Legends are is so much less important than what their debut is: a solid, surprising album whose rewards are commensurate with the time you spend with it.” (Pitchfork)
“Every song on Up Against Legends is a potential single, and perhaps more importantly, every song on Up Against Legends is a unique creation from the lo-fi “Just Like Honey”-esque “Your Song” to the (almost too) impeccably produced “When the Day is Done”, from the distorted squeals and sonic abuse of “Breaking Time Breaking Lines”, to the acoustic driven Brit-pop of “The Kids Just Wanna Have Fun”. (Stylus)
Track Listing: 1. Today
2. Hide Away
3. People Like Us
4. You’re Alive
5. Air
6. He Knows The Sun
7. Something Good
8. I Want To Be Like Everybody Else
9. Heaven Will Wait
10. So Much For Tomorrow
11. These Old Hearts Of Ours
12. Do You Remember Riley?
This is one of those albums that I had to take a chance on because there were no audio samples; I had to base my purchasing decision solely on the reviews of total strangers and pray that they knew what they were talking about.
I am happy to say that the reviewers were right on; what a treasure this album is! And it's a wonderful time capsule as well! These songs were produced between 1982 - 1984, however they were never released until about 1999. The magic is the songs don't sound dated. Vince Clarke produced this album, and he and E.C. Radcliffe did the programming. This album has been compared to sounding like early Depeche Mode and Yaz/Yazoo, but I think it's more similar in sound to "The Circus"-era Erasure.
I'm not sure why no record company (Mute??) wouldn't have picked up these songs and ran with them; the 80s would have been THE time to have released these songs. However I'm not sure how these songs would have fared without Vince C.'s touches and studio wizardry because there aren't really any strong individual singles. Don't get me wrong; all of the songs are great, it's just that all of the songs are pretty consistent and nothing really stands out as "the song you must hear."
My favorites are "Calling All Destroyers", "The Face Of Dorian Gray", "Ambition" and "Crying For The Moon", which has a "1950s meets Synth-Pop" feel. I find myself starting to sing "Great Balls Of Fire" whenever I hear this song; clearly the most fun song on the album.
This album is worthy of five out of five stars; it's not too long (a little over 37 minutes), and I believe it stands up well next to "Speak & Spell", "Upstairs At Eric's" and "Wonderland." I gave it four stars, partly because I'm not able to rate it 4 1/2, but also because of my own minor quibbles. The first one I previously mentioned - I can't decide if I am captivated by the songs themselves or simply by Vince C.'s production. Also, Vince C. is a genius for what he does with songs. However, some of the sound effects he chose to incorporate into some of the songs kind of take away from them; like the cartoonish "boing" throughout "Torch Team." Bleeps and bloops are fine, but a "boing" kind of pushes the envelope. The same goes for the car horn that beeps in time to the beat in "Crying For The Moon" (which I know only happens once, but I'm trying to make a point here). I know he's all about putting out-of-the-ordinary sounds into songs and making them work, but every so often, they can be slightly out of place.
Anyway, instead of pontificating on who's album this really is - Vince Clarke's or Robert Marlow's, I'll take it for what it is - a tasty slice of early 80s new wave synth-pop which I am glad to have in my collection.
After so many years contributing to Kraftwerk's genius, and then making his Electric Music project (with a very good first album in the Kraftwerk's style, "Esperanto", at the begining of the 90s, and a completely missed second album, too much "britpop" for the synthetic music's fans at the end of this decade), Karl Bartos shows us he's quite an energetic 50 years old. "Communication" is a kind of come-back to his origins, Bartos has understood that his genius is more linked to the use of machines than the simple creation of pop melodies. We think of "Esperanto" and the fascination of the German musician for all the communication's technics (photography, internet, virtual reality, etc.); we can't help ourselves to think of Krafwerk in the essential use of the vocoder and the numerous synthetic sounds, the whole wrapped up in candid, "hippy" harmonies. But, unlike the new Krafwerk's album, greeted for its coherence and its modesty, "Communication" is a real pop album, technopop in the meaning the Düsseldorf's quartet gave it in its good years (from "Neon Lights" to "Electric Café" and "Computer World"). Therefore more sexy and more exciting. The melodies are catchy, the rhythms are dancing on almost all the tracks and even some sounds equal the current best techno productions (we think of Orbital - which remixes I'm the Message on an eponymous EP- as well as LFO, who dedicated its first album to... Kraftwerk). We remember that Karl Bartos sensibly collaborated with Bernard Sumner of New Order on Electronic's second album, and that he undeniably kept the habit of singing like him, which is confirmed on tracks like 15 Minutes of Fame (an EP already released last year), Electronic Apeman and Life. As for the rest, and if we except the rather bland, almost instrumentals Interview and Another Reality, Karl Bartos offers us eight pop-electronic tracks, very robotic, cold and warm at the same time, subtle and above all ageless. It was worth waiting for.
TRACKLISTING:
1. The Camera
2. I m The Message
3. 15 Minutes Of Fame
4. Reality
5. Electronic Apeman
6. Life
7. Cyberspace
8. Interview
9. Ultraviolet
10. Another Reality
MODERNE - Moderne/L'Espionne Aimat La Musique 1980-81 (Minimal Wave) Comentários: "A limited edition release of Modernes two full length LPs: Moderne (1980) and LEspionne Aimait La Musique (1981), remastered from the original analog reels and pressed on 180 gram audiophile quality vinyl, is now available. The gatefold artwork features photographs of the band, and is printed on heavyweight 350 gram double white board, with a matte laminate and black inner sleeves. The release is accompanied by a double sided 18" x 24" poster featuring an interview with the band on one side, and photograph on t he other. Moderne was a Minimal / Synthpop band formed in Tours, France in 1979. The band consisted of: Gérard Lévy, Thierry Teyssou, Bernard Guimond, Dominique Marchetti and their videographer Patrick Millerioux. After releasing two albums and two corresponding 7" singles between 1980-1981, nothing was heard from Moderne and aside from "Switch on Bach" (released on the compilation So Young But So Cold in 2004), very little has been heard from this band. Moderne remains notoriously hidden in the past, and their albums and singles have become collectors items. The albums were recorded in their Tours studio and mixed by Joschko Rudas and Henning Schmitz at Studio Rudas Düsseldorf, the same studio Kraftwerk used for Man Machine (1978). The production is exceptional. This is French new wave at its best."
TRACKLISTING:
1. Switch On Bach
2. Mercenaire Solitaire
3. Judo-O-Dojo
4. La Romance
5. Qu'Elle Me Caresse
6. Eldorado
7. Video Idéale
8. L'Homme D'Affaires
9. Dilemma
10. Mode
The melting of electro with other genres is what makes the electronic scene and its music more interesting than ever before, even at a time where economically speaking it is difficult to proceed in music business. Some might not survive it, but I feel it is a time of innovation, sort of a consequent building of the next level - and not a time of antitraditionalism." (Anthony Rother, 2005)
The 30-year old producer and label owner from Offenbach (Frankfurt) obviously knows what he’s talking about when calling a compilation “In Electro We Trust” as he did not so long ago. For over 17 years, he has been working, playing, living and representing electro. Always believing in this kind of music, Rother went through all its ups and downs. With his club label Datapunk he has been transforming the aesthetics of electro into today’s music for over a couple of years now. Some extraordinary successful maxis, like productions for Sven Väth’s Cocoon label, and Rother’s fifth studio album "Popkiller" prove the timelessness of his sound. Not only was "Popkiller" on top of all the 2004 charts but also it was crowned album of the year by the Raveline Magazine readers. All in all, enough proof of how up-todate electro still is today.Anthony Rother’s career started in the late eighties.
His first record releases were strongly inspired by the spherical sound collage of director and composer John Carpenter ("Die Klapperschlange", "The End"). From 1994 on, Rother was one of the most important producers of Heiko Laux’s Kanzleramt label, which, at that time, was located in rural Hessen and has remained one of the few German labels releasing techno on a qualitatively high level.Three years later, a sub label of Kanzleramt was founded especially for Rother’s long player "Sex with the machines", Kanzeleramt’s first artist album to be released. It added a long lasting dynamic to Rother’s career. With "Sex with the machines" Rother realised for the first time the synergy of clubbing expectation and the intensity of electro beats typical for his sound. "The unbelievable feedback from different people was the first proof for me of how much energy I can get out of my music and all of a sudden, everything was clear to me! The success I had later on has confirmed me on what I am doing and has shown me my way to better understand myself as an artist."As a consequence, Rother started to go his own way in 1998 and founded his own label PSI49NET, an artistic platform to release his own productions as well as a variety of collaborations with fellow producers and innovative musicians for whom PSI49NET represented the right medium.
It was this label on which celebrated albums like "Simulationszeitalter" (2000), "Little Computer People" (2001) and "Hacker" (2002) were released. Not only were these records musical statements, but they also convinced with their critical vocals which are rather unusual in electronic music.
TRACKLISTING:
1 Eyes (4:49)
2 Electro Pop (6:33)
3 Little Computer People (2:54)
4 Follow The Leader (6:05)
5 I Am (7:09)
6 Tokio (3:20)
7 Who Do You Love (7:30)
8 Sea Of Love (5:28)
9 Pop Music (2:20)
10 Fly High (3:56)
11 Friends Are Not Electric (16:24)
12 Always The Same Game (2:06)
Experimental Products were a two-man minimal wave project who formed in Delaware in 1982. By the time the group disbanded in 1987, they had expanded to four members and had released one full length LP and a handful of 12'' records. Mark Wilde and Michael Gross remained the core members of the band until their demise.
TRACKLISTING:
1. Modern Living
2. Sweet Rejection
3. New Project
4. Feeling Left Out
5. Nightmares I
6. The Addict
7. Anesthetic
8. Streetwalk
9. Clear Image
10. Nightmares II
A lot has been said about Fairlight Children� Maybe too much actually?! Cos expectations are high from this new project featuring Stephan Groth from Apoptygma Berzerk surrounded by two sexy girls, and the higher expectations are, the harder the fall can be. �808 Bit� is a minimal retro-lectro pop album full of old computer sounds, simple sequences, kitsch drum machine patterns and a mix of clear and vocoded vocals. I have the impression that our Norwegian musician must have had a lot of fun while working on this album. Fun� it�s exactly what you experience when listening to this record for the first time, but then I started doubting� HopingStephan Groth really made this album with humour and wanting us to take it at the second degree, otherwise it is nothing but a pure catastrophe! �Falling Out�, �Before You Came Along�, �Electropulse� or yet �808 Bit� are okay synth pop tracks, but the rest is more of a true experiment with early eighties sounds of Groth�s idols! And while speaking of heroes, we also get a cover of Soft Cell�s �Bedsitter� which is the only song close to Apop�s sound and which makes me think this one was initially written forApoptygma Berzerk and eventually ended up on this record per error? So it�s mixed feelings that I will give a rate of 6 to this record�
TRACKLISTING:
1. Electropulse 2. Before You Came Along 3. Falling Out 4. Invade My Heart Tonight 5. Windshield Wiper 6. 808 Bit 7. Bedsitter 8. New Age 9. Microhard 10. Big City Girl
When James and Meredith aren't being attacked by mutant rave elements, they lay out their faded quilt of 80s synth pop. No one will be surprised that Figurine have sewn the rinky-dinkness of Depeche Mode's Speak and Spell to the pompous austerity of OMD's Architecture and Morality, with threads of heavily blushed, Dare-era Human League. What's surprising is that the band's lyrics are-- with the charitable exception of the opening song, "International Space Station II"-- woefully banal expositions on relationships not going perfectly. Rather than examining the root causes as to why these fictional relationships have collapsed into disappointment and recrimination, the band scrabbles for $4.99 paperback self-help platitudes and irritatingly weak singing.
The album opener, "International Space Station II," looks to \xB5-Ziq for its otherworldly ambience and to kindergarten for its percussion as James and Meredith discuss their long distance relationship across the solar system. "Impossible" tosses the innovations of the opener away with its fusion of the Euro dance-pop of La Bouche with Visage's synth pads. (And if you were wondering, the Belgian rave sound being dropped into this track is annoying, rather than disquieting.) For "Rewind," Figurine try to emulate Four Tet's Pause. Above picked acoustic guitars and Roland TB-303 squelches and stabs, James sings, "Every single move you make/ Ends up being a big mistake/ You constantly embarrass me/ In front of friends and family." Despite these shortcomings, James thinks that, with a judicious rewind, things could be made right.
Yaz and Depeche Mode founder Vince Clarke should have been given a writing credit for "Our Game," which borrows liberally from Clarke's pioneering, two-finger keyboard style. Unfortunately, Meredith doesn't attempt to emulate Alison Moyet's bluesy power. Instead, as on the rest of The Heartfelt, her voice is paltry and characterless. Figurine redeem the track halfway through, however. Like the old Studio 1 releases that segued from the vocal to the dub version, so does "Our Game" launch into its remix version with glistening glee.
Without lacing The Heartfelt with the anxiety of Fad Gadgett, Lali Puna's pop contortions, or the retro futurist panache of Ladytron, Figurine slump into being just another band who are competent at recreating music to wear too much make-up to. And that, my friends, is frustrating, because I know members of this band are capable of outstanding work. The core of Figurine is Dntel's James Tamborello, whose Life is Full of Possibilities LP is the most creative and provocative statement I've heard this year. But where Life is Full of Possibilities takes risks and subverts, The Heartfelt is simple and unremarkably dour. If this is how Figurine define "heartfelt," they'll learn much from Seventeen's forthcoming article on defeating low self-esteem and underachievement.
Hi everybody, this time we have two experimental albums that push music to the extreme.
BOYD RICE AND FRANK TOVEY - EASY LISTENING FOR THE HARD OF HEARING
Boyd's next Mute project was an album in collaboration with Frank Tovey (Fad Gadget) auspiciously titled 'Easy Listening For The Hard Of Hearing'. The album had been recorded in 1981, after NON had supported Fad Gadget on an extensive European tour, but it took three and a half years for the two to agree upon the sleeve design! Made using a gas fire, water pipes and any furniture that happened to by lying around Blackwing studios as they made it as instruments, they fashioned a soundtrack on Boyd's tape recorder that was described by the NME as, "a tapalong collection of wit and invention." Easy Listening was released on Mute Records Ltd (STUMM 20) in 1984 and re-released on cd by Mute Records Ltd (CD STUMM 20) in 1996. This is the lp version.
Smegma's third album "Smell The Remains". As this Portland combo needs no introduction, I can say that this is an album full of tape collages, drones, rock , post-punk/punk, improvisation and experimental music, typical Smegma. Smell The Remains was released on Dom ( DOM V 77-13) in 1987. Pressed on blue vinyl and includes printed inner sleeve with photos, credits and Dom discography. Track listing on inner sleeve is missing the last five titles. These were later printed in Bananafish magazine issue 5. For Smegma's second album " Pigs For Lepers" take a trip to Mr. Mutant here . Hiboux Choux Genoux has posted the excellent Ju Suk Reet Meate solo album similar to Smegma' s first album here.
TRACKLISTING:
1. Potatoe War
2. Forest Fire In Your Left Elbow
3. One Moment
4. Credo Quia Absurdum Est
5. Hot Beeshead Hit The Wax
6. Pigface Chant
7. Roll Down Your Window
8. Beauty School
9. Can't Look Straight
10. Flashcard
11. Outro Is Intro
12. Alternate Take Of Mutant Baby
13. Grass Glob Ball War
The Bridge is a mix of dark electro-pop songs underlined by repetitious sound patterns and punctuated by appliance noises . This is really old-school electronica from the post-punk age like they do not make it anymore .
Robert Rental and Thomas Leer were clearly pioneers of the genre and this album shows their art at its best . It is remniscent of others such as Cabaret Voltaire and Throbbing Gristle , but in more melodic and also more electronic. Very hypnotic and beautiful. This is the cd version of the Bridge from 1992 on The Grey Area Of Mute Records (Bridge 1cd) , The original lp was on Industrial Records (IR 0007) in 1979 .
TRACKLISTING :
1 Attack Decay
2 Monochrome Day's
3 Day Breaks, Night Heals
4 Connotations
5 Fade Away
6 Interferon
7 Six A.M.
8 The Hard Way in & The Easy Way Out
9 Perpetual
Hi Everybody.Sorry for the lack of updates in these last days but I've been very busy.
Anyway, this time here's some good rockabilly for you.The Boppin' Kids are an Italian band from Sicily and they've made two albums here collected in a single package.
Boppin' Kids became quite popular for a really good cover of Ed Cobb's Tainted Love.They mix rockabilly and psychobilly;I've had the luck to see them playing live for their 20 years reunion tour and they still rock.If you like energy and want to move your feet, this is the right sound for you. Have a good listen.
TRACKLISTING:
01 Fire in my Soul
02 Crazy Love
03 Don't You Make me Cry
04 Rebel Without a Cause
05 Something Else
06 Castle of Death
07 Tainted Love
08 Lonesome Train
09 Go Wild
10 In my Dreams
11 Love me Like a Stone
12 Little,Little Girl
13 Feel so Lonely
14 You Make me Smile
15 I Don't Know
16 You Don't Know
17 Do u Love me
18 This Love Story
19 She's a Rock'n'Rol Fanl
20 Horks
21 Invisible Life
22 Cry Little Woman
23 Baby Love me
Trees comprised only just of nerdy San Diego multi-instrumentalist Dane Conover, released only one album. However, it is the unsung masterpiece not only of its era, but also of its creator’s whole generation.Produced by Los Angeles rock legend Earle Mankey, Sleep Convention comes from a Space Age childhood immersed in the music of the Beach Boys where it was most relevant. Keeping with the times, Trees does it in a way that only the punk explosion could allow.
Working in a synth-pop style virtually unheard in the United States, Conover’s distinct voice earned him a deal with MCA and a bevy of videos produced by Kim Fowley at the time of MTV’s rise. Despite this, success never came his way. These infectious pop songs only crime is perhaps being too brilliant. While the sound in never inaccessible, at least for its time the lyrical themes are heavy enough to outdo even British contemporary Gary Numan. As the title would suggest, sleep is a major theme that works itself into almost every track, using both the connotations of dreaming and escapism. This kind of duality continues in the exploration of technology as a tool that can propel mankind into a bright future, but one that must be approached with great caution. Ever catchy and at times even sugar-coated, Sleep Convention carries a strong apocalyptic air - one approached calmly, yet of course with some fear. Through all of this, Conover maintains the uniquely American in his lyrics.
“Red Car” in particular defines the otherworldly tone of the album in its imagery of the Great American West juxtaposed with both the amazement in and danger of the atomic bomb. “Shock of the New” is the great lost anthem of the New Wave as Conover sings, “mock of the old becomes shock of the new” at a time when future shock was growing only quick enough to still notice it. The epic side two opener “11:00 AM” may literally ground the album’s world in time, but ultimately obliterates the concept not suitable for Conover’s dark, ethereal world. Following it is “Wildwood” the album’s finest, most mysteriously beautiful song which’s use of noise gives provides Sleep Convention with its most cinematically gorgeous vision. “Delta Sleep” Trees’ psychedelic tribute to the nocturnal experience. Even “No Stranger” flits lyrically between romantic and the dark surrealism of a supernatural thriller.
This is not to say that every track here is not a standout – each one can be let into your heart as readily as the one preceding it. This album will surely keep you hooked for even longer than you will expect upon first listen. Cleverly integrating new technology with more traditional instruments and classic songwriting, Conover beautifully melds the dark synth-pop of the era with the California pop that runs in his blood.
TRACKLISTING:
01. Come Back
02. Shock Of The New
03. Delta Sleep
04. No Stranger
05. Midnight In America
06. 11:00 AM
07. Wildwood
08. India
09. Gotta Moon
10. Red Car
If you like New Order you'll probably also like The Foxglove Hunt. They are definitely channeling Bernard Sumner and Co.; a couple of songs on this album sound like they were just lifted right off of Substance. As a big New Order fan, I'm fine with the imitation aspect of this CD.
Anyway, this is fun, feel-good music that will remind you of the mid 80s. The vocalist sounds a little like Joy Electric's vocalist, only not whiney. I found that interesting, because Ronnie Martin of Joy Electric is part of The Foxglove Hunt, but he isn't the vocalist.
TRACKLISTING:
1 A Concealed Weapon 03:42
2 Strength Early 03:46
3 Business Casual 02:44
4 The Life Highrise 04:44
5 The Mayflower Compact 02:22
6 It's Not Effective 04:01
7 That's Getting Personal 03:12
8 Love My Way 03:44
9 Don't I Know The Way 03:58
10 The Pure In Heart 04:21
Yazoo, was the combo made by Mr.Vince Clarke (after his departure from Depeche Mode) with Alison Moyet, Vince schoolmate.Vince Clarke started this project as a joke also because after leaving DM he didn't want to continue making music but then he let Daniel Miller listen to Only You and from that point it was a huge, even short success made by two albums ("Upstairs At Eric's" and "You And Me Both"). This is the only live recording available from Yazoo of that period and it comes from the BBC archives. I Think it does exist also the second night of the DOminion Thetare Show but the tracklist is the same. Vince Clarke it's in my opinion, a real genius and even after the 2008 Yazoo reunion I still enjoy listen to these precious gems. Enjoy.
TRACKLISTING:
1 - Situation
2 - Too Pieces
3 - Goodbye 70's
4 - Winter Kills
5 - Bad Connection
6 - Tuesday
7 - Bring Your Love Down
8 - Midnight
9 - Chinese Detectives
10 - In My Room
11 - Don't Go
12 - he Other Side Of Love
13 - Ode To Boy
14 - Only You
San Francisco's Our Daughters Wedding started playing in 1977 with bass, guitar and drums but in 1978 they quit. One year later they met in New York and decided to start all over again, this time using only rhythm machines and synthesizers. "We started playing at the Hurrah! club as supporting act to James Chance and Mi-Sex. At that time people did not like us and shouted 'where the fuck are the drums, why don't you use any guitars' and that kind of crap. But after a few years it became a fad, so it came as a surprise to us that it all of a sudden was okay to use synths" said a band member. They scored with the dance club hit "Lawnchairs" (1980 Design Records). Then they signed with EMI records and released the 5 song EP "Digital Cowboy" which featured a rerecording of "Lawnchairs", this time using real drums. In 1982 they released the LP "Moving Windows" but the band broke up not long after it's release.
Hi, here's a really hard to find version from an early Depeche Mode song taken frome their first Lp, "Speak & Spell".I'm talikng about "I Sometimes Wish I Was Dead", one of my favourite synthpop tunes of all time.This is a vinyl rip taken from a personal copy of a flexy disc appeared on the Felxy Pop Magazine of 1981.The song is recorded in a different version in comparison with the original.Download it because it really rocks!
Happy Halloween to everybody.Here's another french compilation full of minimal synth acts.This is the evidence theat the 80's french scene was pulsing and solid.There are several good tune sin this compilation so it worths a liste. Enjoy and post your comments!
Hi, this is not another album but just a consideration. My work and the work of the other bloggers on the net it's hard and abviously for free, so leaving some comment or a thank or just expressing your opinion on the material released would be helpful, interesting and would contribute the long lasting of this blog. So don't be shy and express your opinion! :-)
And here it is the First Chesterfields album.Good jangle pop, beatiful melodies and energy. An absolutely must have for song such as "Sweet Revenge" or "Completely And Hutterly"it's a shame this band hadn't got the attention he deserved.
Enjoy!
TRACKLISTING:
1 - Sweet Revenge
2 - What's Your Perversion
3 - Lovemountain
4 - Best Of Friends
5 - Hidden Untitled Track
6 - Completely And Utterly
7 - Girl On A Boat
8 - Ask Johnny Dee
9 - Pop Anarchy
The Chesterfields were an English indie pop band from Yeovil in Somerset. Hardcore fans tended to refer to them as 'The Chesterf!elds', with an exclamation mark replacing the 'i', following the example of the band's logo. The band was formed in summer 1984 by Dave Goldsworthy (vocals, guitar), Simon Barber (bass, vocals), and Dominic Manns (drums), joined in 1985 by Brendan Holden (guitar).[1] Early recordings included contributions to the Golden Pathway tapes, that captured the West Country music scene of the time, such as "Stephanie Adores" and "The Boy Who Sold His Suitcase", the latter with a female lead singer, Sarah.
The first "vinyl" release was as one half of a flexi disc; "Nose out of Joint" shared a single side with the Shop Assistants' "All that Ever Mattered", and was given away free with copies of London's "Legend" Fanzine and future Subway Organisation boss, Martin Whitehead's own Bristol Fanzine. They signed to The Subway Organization, releasing three well-received singles, before Holden was replaced by Rodney Allen. Debut LP Kettle was released in July 1987, with a compilation of the early singles, Westward Ho! issued later the same year. Allen left to join The Blue Aeroplanes, to be replaced temporarily by Andy Strickland of The Loft (band)/ The Caretaker Race, before a more permanent replacement was found in the form of Simon Barber's brother Mark.[2]
The band then moved to their own Household label, issuing two more singles and a third album, Crocodile Tears. Manns left and was replaced by future PJ Harvey drummer Rob Ellis but when Goldsworthy departed in late 1988 the band effectively split. The Barber brothers continued as The Chesterfields for a final single, "Fool Is The Man" in 1989.
The band split for good in the summer of 1989, Simon Barber forming Basinger, and Mark Barber joined Grape. Goldsworthy fronted several more bands, including Furnt and Diceman. The Chesterfields reformed briefly in the 1990's to tour Japan after their material was re-issued there. Dave Goldsworthy (Davy Chesterfield) was killed by a hit & run driver in Oxford, UK, on 9 November 2004.
Crocodile Tears is a perfect example og good jangle pop melodic and immediately catchy. This is a rare and deleted records and it's another vinyl rip. Enjoy and have a good listen.
TRACKLISTING:
Lunchtime For The Wild Youth
Alison Wait
When It All Comes Down
Hopes For Lauren Or Joseph
Get Some Religion
Let It Go
Twintown
Goodbye Goodbye
Besotted
Blame
Ladies and gentleman here's an aboslutely MUST HAVE album. Flordemal were a sicilian band formed in the late 90's. Their music is a pure folk rock with some country influence and a bit of sicilian tradition. Take R.E.M., Sonic Youth and Husker Du, mix them together and you'll have one of the best album of the 90's. Each song is beautiful and catchy.Flordemal have made two more albums, one of them produced and played by Peter buck of R.E.M. Take this album also because you won't find it on the net. This is a vinyl rip made by myself. Have a good listen.
TRACKLISTING:
1 - Cover Of the Mind
2 - Tommy
3 - Just For You
4 - Mr,Thoughts
5 - A New Day
6 - We're Artists
7 - F.K.
8 - Sweet Tarantella
9 - Island
10 - She
11 - On
12 - Country Song
This well-constructed compilation, is significant not only for opening up these sounds to a larger audience but also for putting a definite perspective on a music scene that was all too short.
It is the late Seventies in Europe. The political tensions of the Sixties are now manifest in the extremes of hedonism and direct action. Youth feels alienated once again, this time its worse with constant violence on the television and industrial upheavals at home.
Urban decimation and Postmodernism at its height, further isolating people from their surroundings. European identity has been eradicated in shame and frustration. But something is happening. Punk Rock in the United Kingdom has shown kids all over the world that its easy for them to release music on independent labels. Current technological trends make access to new electronic instruments (ARP and MS10 among others) easy. In France a new youth culture is born. So Young But So Cold illustrates that trend brilliantly.
It begins with the most poppy tunes and gradually goes back in time, as more instruments are added to each song and the experts (mostly influenced by and creating progressive rock) take over. The first half of the disc the instrumentation is sparse, consisting of drum machine or keyboard and vocals primarily. By the end of the disc the tracks get more (analog) synthesizer oriented and denser in construction.
TRACKLISTING:
1 - Suis-Je Normale – Nini Raviolette 00:04:03
2 - Euroman – J.J. Burnel 00:03:29
3 - Roman Photo – Ruth 00:05:02
4 - Disco Rough – Mathematiques Modernes 00:04:00
5 - Carnival – Metal Boys 00:01:45
6 - Person To Person – The (Hypothetical) Prophets 00:06:09
7 - Wallenberg – The (Hypothetical) Prophets 00:06:18
8 - So Young But So Cold – Kas Product 00:03:00
9 - Synchro – Charles De Goal 00:04:00
10 - MAE – Artefact 00:03:18
11 - Switch On Bach – Moderne 00:03:08
12 - Triangle – Jacno 00:03:29
13 - Lighthouse – Tim Blake 00:06:47
14 - The Force (Part I) – Droids 00:03:26
15 - Welcome (To Death Row) – Bernard Szajner 00:06:14
16 - Iceland – Richard Pinhas 00:09:38
This cassette compilation is not actually a commercial release - it was used purely as a demo tape, which the League presented to record companies in their search for a label which could offer them the financial support they needed.
The Dominion jingle is used extensively throughout the cassette (appearing after every song except You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling), and dialogue is also provided by Philip, who poses as a fictional TV presenter, 'Jason Taverner'. This name was almost certainly borrowed from Philip K Dick's novel, Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said, which also features a television personality named Jason Taverner.
The cassette is not actually titled the 'Taverner tape', but it has become known as this, due to these excerpts of dialogue. (For transcriptions of the dialogue, see the Avoid Those Mistakes section of this site.)
Overall, the compilation is a good representation of the group's sound at the time, mixing pop-oriented tracks (Blind Youth, You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling) with instrumentals (Interface, Toyota City) and slightly darker, more leftfield songs (Again The Eye Again, The Path Of Least Resistance, Zero As A Limit). Unsurprisingly, this generated a lot of interest among the record labels in London and the League were quickly signed by Virgin Records.
All tracks written by Marsh/Oakey/Ware, except You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling (Spector/Mann/Weill) and Toyota City (The Human League)
Produced by The Human League, except *unspecified BBC engineer
Cassette not generally available
TRACKLISTING:
1. First Jason Taverner Intro
2. Blind Youth
3. Dominion Jingle
4. Interface
5. Dominion Jingle
6. Again The Eye Again
7. Dominion Jingle
8. Second Jason Taverner Intro
9. Toyota City
10. Dominion Jingle
11. Path Of Least Resistance
12. Dominion Jingle
13. Zero As A Limit
14. Dominion Jingle
15. Third Jason Taverner Intro
16. You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'
Done as part of an ultimately failed distribution attempt in the country of the title, Amigos finds Reilly working very much in the mode of Another Setting, creating five fine pieces that combine his lovely guitar work with piano and other instruments. Though all titles are in Portuguese as well, nothing appears to be specifically about the country or its own musical style -- it's simply Reilly, working solo in this instance, creating some stripped-down work still with that typical hint of Durutti magic. The opening number, the title track itself, actually features some of the most active and busy piano he'd yet recorded, still with just enough control to make it slot in with the remainder of the music. Keyboards also dominate other tracks, including "Lisboa," one of his most straightforwardly beautiful (as opposed to darkly so) numbers, and the concluding waft of "Estoril A Noite."
It seems strange that the Feelies’ third album is only now being reissued. Stranger still that Crazy Rhythms isn’t available, but that’s a topic for another article. Since New Jersey’s favorite nerds played a Fourth of July gig with Sonic Youth in New York’s Battery Park, they’ve reasserted their reputation as one of the best bands of the 1980s, despite a career that never really felt like taking flight (aside from moving to Florida).
Only Life, the band’s major label debut from 1988, immediately brings to mind the band’s obvious influence, the Velvet Underground, and a band that was hugely influenced by Crazy Rhythms, R.E.M. Glenn Mercer’s voice sometimes brims with Lou Reed’s detachment, yet he’s not averse to enthusiasm. On "Too Much," he’s sailing, uncorking a guitar solo as melodic and transcendental as anything Tom Verlaine played with Television.
The record is a far cry from the tensions of the Feelies’ live show - its first half is downright peaceful – but it never gets easy. It pieces together its own momentum, riding Mercer and Bill Millions’ downstrokes in an impressive exercise in subtlety. Everything crests on the last three tracks, "Too Far Gone," "Away" and a cover of the Velvets’ "What Goes On," Mercer’s guitar soars over tightly-coiled rhythms that contain equal helpings of joy and dread.
The Feelies’ music exists in a claustrophobic space where punk borders pop. They’ve always managed to fend off the latter’s commercial blandness while vying for the type of big league attention they deserved, but perhaps fortuitously, never received. Only Life undeniably sounds like a product of its time, but it also portrays a band in the best Velvets tradition, with a clear sense of what and when not to play.
TRACKLISTING:
1. It's Only Life
2. Too Much
3. Deep Fascination
4. Higher Ground
5. The Undertow
6. For Awhile
7. The Final Word
8. Too Far Goe
9. Away
10. What Goes On
Led by singer/bassist/keyboardist Andrew Jarman (vocally something of a David Byrne student), this London quartet drifts between arty synth-dance and lightly played mood music. Using dinky electronic percussion rather than a drummer in the early days, the enigmatic group's records alternately wax chilly, funky, humorless and clever.Ministry's Al Jourgensen remixed "Ladder Jack" and "House" for the eponymous American 12-inch, a four-song sampling of the band's pre-Comrades 45s. Both of those remixes also appear on 'Taste', a 1980-'87 singles compilation that presents an absurdly bloodless trashing of Lou Reed's "Rock&Roll" and adds two previously unreleased items, including an awfully strange cover of John Fogerty's "Run Through the Jungle."Fielding a solid five-man lineup, APHOS comes out of the woods on the obviously commercial England in the Rain. Unlike its previous unpredictable self-indulgences, the band now reveals a clear-cut focus: the half-dozen peppy songs are all standard stylish modern dance rock that compares favorably to Wang Chung and that whole post-Ultravox ilk. If Jarman weren't such a duff singer, these attractively produced tracks might be really appealing.
Electric Lucifer is an early electronic album by Bruce Haack noted for its originality and innovative use of acid rock and electronic sounds. AllMusic.com describes it as "a psychedelic, anti-war song cycle about the battle between heaven and hell." Haack used a Moog synthesizer and his own home-built electronics, including an early prototype vocoder. It was originally released on LP in 1970 and has been re-mastered and re-released on CD several times since. "Song of the Death Machine" and "Word Game" both feature vocals by Chris Kachulis. The lyrics are also highly original, mentioning concepts such as "powerlove" — a force so strong and good that it will not only save mankind but Lucifer himself. It remains Haack's only album to debut on a major label and was featured heavily in the 2004 documentary Haack: The King of Techno.
TRACKLISTING:
1. "Electric To Me Turn"
2. "The Word (Narration)"
3. "Cherubic Hymn"
4. "Program Me"
5. "War"
6. "National Anthem To The Moon"
7. "Chant Of The Unborn"
8. "Incantation"
9. "Angel Child"
10. "Word Game"
11. "Song Of The Death Machine"
12. "Super Nova"
13. "Requiem"
Best of compilation of this minimal wave german band from Hamburg. Founded by Kirsten Klemm,Matthias Schuster and Jan T.Krahn the band started recording in 1981 inicially with the name Jeanette und das Land Z. The first 7" was released in Spring of that same year and it was a cover of a France Gall song, "Poupee de cire,poupee de son". After finishing the first album, the band didn´t come to an agreement with Phonogram, their inicial label, so the band took over the whole Konkurrenz label to start a new and totally independent company. Inspired by an old song of a german chansonette Hildegard Knef, the band manifested their independent status by changing the name to Bal Paré. They still record to this day after the reunion in 2007.
One of the `80s most striking debuts, the first album from this Leicester, England, quintet is filled with soaring guitar epics, complemented by the powerful vocals and provocative lyrics of frontman John Butler and expertly produced by Chris Kimsey. Heavily influenced by the same jangly folk-rock (Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, etc.) that helped fuel R.E.M. and other alternative darlings, Butler and his bandmates opted for clarity instead of navel-gazing, creating anthemic tunes like "All the Myths on Sunday" and "Bell of Hope," which sounded like instant classics and considered appropriately big topics like religion and history. But the band may have been, as its label claimed, "years ahead of its time" -- while Diesel Park West followed its debut 45 "When the Hoodoo Comes" with several more singles, including the rocking "Like Princes Do" and "Jackie`s Still Sad," the group struggled to find an audience, and also failed to repeat the magic of Shakespeare Alabama on subsequent albums. But this outing, now out of print, has become a sought-after item among fans who recognized greatness when they heard it."-AMG. "5 stars.. On its original release in 1989, Shakespeare Alabama felt like an instant classic; a tour-de-force of anthemic songwriting and John Butler`s passionate vocals. But, though critically-acclaimed, it failed to sell, and the band never sounded quite so good again. This "special edition" supposedly sounds closer to how the group intended it, though, frankly, it`s hard to find much wrong with the original. Indeed it`s difficult to think of any other album that opened with a sequence of songs as powerful as Like Princes Do, All the Myths on Sunday and Bell of Hope."-The Guardian.
TRACKLIST:
1. Like Princes Do
2. All The Myths On Sunday
3. Bell Of Hope
4. Out Of Nowhere
5. Waking Hour
6. When The Hoodoo Comes
7. Opportunity Crazy
8. Jackie's Still Sad
9. Here I Stand
10. House Divided
The Chesterfields were an English indie pop band from Yeovil in Somerset. Hardcore fans tended to refer to them as 'The Chesterf!elds', with an exclamation mark replacing the 'i', following the example of the band's logo. The band was formed in summer 1984 by Dave Goldsworthy (vocals, guitar), Simon Barber (bass, vocals), and Dominic Manns (drums), joined in 1985 by Brendan Holden (guitar).[1] Early recordings included contributions to the Golden Pathway tapes, that captured the West Country music scene of the time, such as "Stephanie Adores" and "The Boy Who Sold His Suitcase", the latter with a female lead singer, Sarah.
Electric Lucifer is an early electronic album by Bruce Haack noted for its originality and innovative use of acid rock and electronic sounds. AllMusic.com describes it as "a psychedelic, anti-war song cycle about the battle between heaven and hell." Haack used a Moog synthesizer and his own home-built electronics, including an early prototype vocoder. It was originally released on LP in 1970 and has been re-mastered and re-released on CD several times since. "Song of the Death Machine" and "Word Game" both feature vocals by Chris Kachulis. The lyrics are also highly original, mentioning concepts such as "powerlove" — a force so strong and good that it will not only save mankind but Lucifer himself. It remains Haack's only album to debut on a major label and was featured heavily in the 2004 documentary Haack: The King of Techno.
One of the `80s most striking debuts, the first album from this Leicester, England, quintet is filled with soaring guitar epics, complemented by the powerful vocals and provocative lyrics of frontman John Butler and expertly produced by Chris Kimsey. Heavily influenced by the same jangly folk-rock (Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, etc.) that helped fuel R.E.M. and other alternative darlings, Butler and his bandmates opted for clarity instead of navel-gazing, creating anthemic tunes like "All the Myths on Sunday" and "Bell of Hope," which sounded like instant classics and considered appropriately big topics like religion and history. But the band may have been, as its label claimed, "years ahead of its time" -- while Diesel Park West followed its debut 45 "When the Hoodoo Comes" with several more singles, including the rocking "Like Princes Do" and "Jackie`s Still Sad," the group struggled to find an audience, and also failed to repeat the magic of Shakespeare Alabama on subsequent albums. But this outing, now out of print, has become a sought-after item among fans who recognized greatness when they heard it."-AMG. "5 stars.. On its original release in 1989, Shakespeare Alabama felt like an instant classic; a tour-de-force of anthemic songwriting and John Butler`s passionate vocals. But, though critically-acclaimed, it failed to sell, and the band never sounded quite so good again. This "special edition" supposedly sounds closer to how the group intended it, though, frankly, it`s hard to find much wrong with the original. Indeed it`s difficult to think of any other album that opened with a sequence of songs as powerful as Like Princes Do, All the Myths on Sunday and Bell of Hope."-The Guardian.