House News

Dream Control is the collaboration of a legend of the Krautrock Kosmiche scene and a pioneer of the German electronic scene. Zeus B. Held, renowned producer (Gina X Performance and works under his own moniker) and Steve Schroyder (former member of Tangerine Dream during their formative period) team up to deliver their debut album "Zeitgeber" which celebrates their very own sound and rhythm in a cosmic journey through audio and time. The tracks are a blend of structured compositions and improvisations accented by the throat singing of Kolja Simon und Felix Monnich aka AlienVoices. The album plays like a Technicolor adventure through space with explorations of cosmic disco, dreamlike passages, vocoder lullabies, and space odysseys. Zeus B. Held began his musical career in 1972 in French progressive art-rock band Eruption before joining successful German prog rock group Birth Control, performing and writing with them 1973 - 1978. He was one of the first musicians to use the Sennheiser Vocoder VSM 201 in his live sets. Zeus' production work with cult project Gina X Performance transformed him into an electronic specialist producer settling down in London for over 20 years. In his London studio he worked with artists including John Foxx, Dead or Alive, Men Without Hats, Transvision Vamp and Gary Numan, did a series of international soundtracks and further productions with Nina Hagen and Udo Lindenberg. After numerous trips around the globe he composed and produced a collection of his own albums (which Medical released a hand-picked selection in 2015). Steve Schroyder started to develop his musical vision with an electronic organ and his own films. He founded the group Turning Free giving a string of improvised concerts in Berlin clubs before meeting Edgar Froese in 1970 to mutually further develop the vision of 'cosmic music' resulting in recording the Tangerine Dream albums Alpha Centauri and Zeit. In 1972 he left TD and joined Ash Ra Temple. Further creative collaborations and projects include Scarecrew, Augenstern, Star Sounds Orchestra, various trance productions, Anne Clark, Alien Voices and Star Sound Kontinuum. The tracks have been expertly mastered for vinyl by Zeus B. Held. Limited Edition.

Limited Grey Marbeled Vinyl Pressing!
All tracks written by G. Vandekerkhof except Back to nature written by Fad Gadget (F.Tovey)

Der Klinke is a new wave band from Belgium combining the pure atmosphere of the eighties with nowadays influences. Marbled grey numbered Ltd 4-track EP with the previously unreleased Back to Nature (Fad Gadget) and Eyes Of Ice.


Turntable sounds TS 008, a subdivision of Groovy Int. Records

(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

ltd edition double 7" pack..

STACIAN is Person L is Oakland resident, solo artist and academic Dania Luck. Beginning in the American Mid West, Stacian has been an ongoing Bay Area concern since 2008, deeply involved in the minimal wave and underground electronic music scene. A dystopian vision of alienated humanity, broken communications and technoid mal-forms, Person L is her most fully developed full length and a leap forward from 2012's Songs For Cadets. Moving away from the primitive Cold Wave of previous work, Person L manages to create a bleak dystopia without relying on Ballardian cliche, though still invoking concrete prisons and urban disassociation. Person L is a throbbing, murky underworld that revels in imperfections, a submersive, digital swamp bleeding through the club.

Themes of humanoid alienation and identity confusion abound. Person L is the nominal (and sole) band member of STACIAN, a manifestation of Luck's that re-creates a near-human face in the mirror. Album opener Volx is a massive stomper, 909 kicks bringing an almost electro-glam thump into the stereo field. Luck's skill as Person L and as STACIAN is in maximilising minimalism. Volx is a simple composition, an arpeggiated analog synth and simple kick-snare but it creates the drama Luck's vocal thrives on. Headstand is similarly huge sounding, though here the track unfolds gradually with synth strings eeking out a simple melody before the catastrophising kick ramps up the pressure. It's a wonderful exercise in abstraction vs. body moving dynamics. Album single Telephonix is the closest thing to a conventional pop song on Person L, with murky electronics belying a thrilling Cold Wave dancer. We're lost in the throes of miscommunication: in placing our trust in electronic communications we've divorced ourselves from human interaction.

On Side 2, Dirgent heralds a darker portion of the album. A slow burner with a blown-out low end anchoring the doom, it marks a dark wave of distortion that swells up and consumes the listener. The narrative turns in on itself Remote Cntl, ironically marking the most human of the tracks here. Though the album is devoid of any overt feminist sentiments, here Stacian covertly samples a male voice man-splaining electronic music before burying him in electronic sludge. It's absurdly thrilling. Spooky Action At A Glance takes John Carpenter-esque atmospherics into Stacian's Maximalist approach, the horror blow up to kitch, day-glo proportions. Album closer gNoMoN takes a dub rhythm and blasts it into the Cold Wave outerverse, a menacing doom to close Person L.

Love like tutti quanti! Limited edition re-issue of this incredible italo ballad. Comes with a first aid kit including a Bordello A Parigi condom for all the unfaithful casanova's. The a-side has the original Tutti Quanti club version while the b-side contains an unreleased radio version.

"Repetition is a form of change," reads one of Brian Eno's Oblique Strategies. Seth Haley knows the concept well, and his style of technicolour synth-wave takes the mantra as a challenge. Six years after Galactic Melt introduced the cosmic story of Com Truise, Iteration now concludes his sprawling saga. True to its name, the album is built on Com Truise hallmarks: neon-streaked melodies, big drums, robotic grooves, bleary nostalgia. But Iteration is also the most elegant and streamlined that Haley's singular music has ever sounded.

At the album's heart is an elaborate narrative, one full of longing, hope, anxiety, and triumph. Iteration illustrates the last moments Com Truise spends on the perilous planet Wave 1, before he and his alien love escape its clutches to live in peace. "...Of Your Fake Dimension" launches the interstellar drama with its anthemic swells and widescreen sound design, before lovesick songs like "Dryswch" and "Propagation" outline scenes wrought with cybernetic pathos. Later, the frantic rhythms of "Syrthio" conjure images of panicked flight as Haley's gorgeous synth melodies gild the action in quiet heartbreak. Then comes the resounding "When Will You Find The Limit...", when Iteration's pain and sadness finds liberation in the vast unknown. The closing title track ends it all in a gush of majestic revelry.

So goes the winding story that Iteration tells, and yet there's more behind its telling. "I try hard not to write from my personal life, but it's inevitably going to seep into the music," Haley explains. "It's basically like I'm scoring this film in my head, but that film I'm scoring is also somehow my life." There are glimpses of the difficult time the East Coast native spent adjusting to a new life in Los Angeles, fighting homesickness and burnout while also touring the world. It was a time full of uncertainty, transition, and self-realization. After a year and a half of living in California, Hayley finally recaptured his creativity by finding new excitement in his work. "I put more air, more breathing room in the music—that was the big change," he says. And once that clicked, the album just poured out of him. "It was like an information dump. I feel like I finished the record in two weeks."

Such a clear refinement of the Com Truise sound took time to develop, but Iteration is well worth the patience and perseverance it cost. Some of Haley's smartest, catchiest work is here, from the weightless pop of "Isostasy" to "Ternary"'s lush synth-funk. A song like "Vacuume" somehow balances massive bass drops and smashing drums with angelic gasps, and
"Usurper" gracefully pairs subtle poignancy and uplifting dance beats. "For me, it feels like change," Hayley says of his second album, and yes, this is Com Truise like never before. By embracing the music's inherent nature and peerless qualities, Iteration finds new avenues of expression in its vivid, familiar surroundings.

Die Form is a French post-industrial and electronic band formed in 1977-1978. The name 'Die Form' means '(the) form/shape' in German and is a play on the English homonym 'deformed' and on the French homonym 'difforme' (deformed). Die Form is the primary project of electronic musician and multimedia artist Philippe Fichot. He began by recording a number of experimental cassette releases in the late 1970s and formed the Bain Total label to release these early cassettes, as well as various side projects such as Krylon Hertz, Camera Obscura, Eva-Johanna Reichstag, Hurt and Fine Automatic.

In 1982 Die Form released their debut vinyl album, Die Puppe' in a limited edition of 1,000 copies. Zoo' is a compilation of 10 tracks recorded during the Die Puppe' sessions from 1980-82. These were the first esoteric electronic experiments, often improvised. Underlying themes of eroticism, death, and other 'taboo' subjects become apparent in both the music and the album artwork, which Philippe also produced. The album was recorded with entirely analog equipment, including a Roland MC4 Micro-Composer, TR-808 Rhythm Composer, ARP 2600, and Kawai 60F recorded to a Revox B77 reel to reel tape machine. Songs range from hypnotic, minimalistic proto-IDM to daring experimental sound manipulation. 4 of these songs were featured as a bonus 7' to accompany the 1989 vinyl reissue of Die Puppe' but remixed for the project. The remaining 6 songs were also remixed and released on CD in 2001. For this reissue we asked the band to transfer the analog Revox tapes to release never before heard original versions of all 10 tracks.

All songs have been remastered for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. The front cover was designed by Eloise Leigh and features a black and white photograph by Philipe. Each album includes a double sided post card with liner notes and a rare photo of the band.

Samantha Urbani may be best known as the front-woman for conceptual punk pop chart crashers Friends but, now with her long awaited solo project, she is about to cut her own unique swathe through the music landscape all over again, cementing her position as unparalleled pop contrarian bar none.

4x140g vinyl LP set with 3' mini CD - Limited edition vinyl colours.

Includes 6 never before heard bonus tracks from the archives and several additional audio clips.

Contains huge double sided poster and liner notes by Jerry Casale of DEVO.

Petri Dish = Clear vinyl with blue and white splats.

For decades DEVO have been working non-stop at Recombo DNA Laboratories on a new kind of research to keep up with the mutating world around us! That extensive research is now ready for public consumption.

For the first time ever on vinyl FUTURISMO present unhindered access into DEVO's labs, documenting the scientific analysis and demonstrations as conducted by the band between the years 1977-2008! This tireless research has manifested itself in Recombo DNA...an unmissable collection of studio demos and unreleased rare tracks that span DEVO's entire recording career, from their original basement days to their famed 'Freedom Of Choice' era, right the way through to unused demos from their last studio album, included as part of the six bonus tracks taken from the archives that have never been released, or even heard before.

This incredible limited edition 4xLP set is a sonic fusion of demos, alternate versions and outtakes, demonstrating the true breadth and talent of one of America's most important bands. Yet, this set doesn't stop at four beautiful slabs of mutated vinyl, oh no! also included is 'The Somewhere Suite' served up on the format it was originally intended to be back in the May of '89, although it was never actually released at the time, it's contained here in all it's glory on 3' Mini CD!

This summer FUTURISMO give every DEVO fan the release they've been waiting for, a one time pressing of DEVO's Recombo DNA! Each set includes 4x140g limited edition coloured vinyl in the choice of 'Petri Dish', 'Emergency Codes' or 'Molecular Mutation' and a 3' Mini CD. Contained within the wide spined sleeve alongside this fanatastic devolved collection of recordings and bonus tracks, is a huge A1 poster, colour inner sleeves, download code and brand new liner notes by Gerald V Casale of Devo.

DEVO's Recombo DNA is an essential addition to the collection of any science fearing spud, so grab you're lab coat and witness audio mutation in action! Only while stocks last.

Es gibt wenige Gruppen, die ein Genre so nachhaltig geprägt haben, wie das Duo Erk Aicrag und Racso Agroyam, besser bekannt als Hocico. Die beiden haben nicht nur quasi im Alleingang dafür gesorgt, dass plötzlich eine ganze Szene Mexiko auch abseits von Tequila und Sombrero auf dem Schirm hatte, sondern darüber hinaus die dunkle Spielart der elektronischen Musik mit einer einzigartigen Mischung aus harten Beats, unbändiger Wut, aggressiven Shouts und wilden Soundexperimenten komplett umgekrempelt. Wie ein Faustschlag in die Magengrube traf uns dieser frische, neue Sound damals, fand in der ganzen Welt schnell viele Nachahmer und eroberte in kürzester Zeit weltweit Clubs und Bühnen. - The Spell Of The Spider versammelt nun Highlights, Hits, Favoriten und Raritäten aus mehr als 20 Jahren, von der Band selbst zusammengestellt und liebevoll neu gemastert. Für das Front-Artwork zeichnet sich der amerikanische Fotokünstler Thomas G. Anderson (u.a. Asking Alexandria) verantwortlich. Wer sich mit der härteren Seite der Elektronik beschäftigt, kommt an Hocico nicht vorbei. - The Spell Of The Spider feiert diese Ausnahme-Band und ist ein idealer Einstiegspunkt für Neulinge, eine spannende Entdeckungsreise für Fans und Sammler und ein Muss für jeden Electro-Head. Die ultimative Hocico-Best-Of erscheint auch als limitiertes, rotes Doppel-Vinyl im edlen Klappcover, als Deluxe-Doppel-CD im Digipak mit der Bonus Disc - The Dark Side Of The Spider , welche rare und vergriffene Songs, sowie Compilation-Beiträge enthält, sowie als limitiertes 3CD-Fan-Set in einer edlen Digipak-Longbox, welche zusätzlich die exklusive EP - Spider Bites , mit neuen und unveröffentlichten Stücken, beinhaltet.

First single taken from OMD's forthcoming thirteenth studio album "The Punishment of Luxury". Limited edition 12" with exclusive non-album B-side "Skin".

With their 13th studio album 'The Punishment Of Luxury' out September 1st via 100% Records, synth-pop pioneers Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark release new single 'Isotype' impacting July 14th.

Written, recorded, produced and mixed by OMD - Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys - 'Isotype' is taken from the duo's brilliant new album 'The Punishment Of Luxury', a daring collection of stylish synth pop and masterful song writing that will rank alongside their very best.

Boasting an infectious synth line and soaring melody 'Isotype' sees the band address the issues of communication and technology within the 21st century. Speaking of the track Andy said '"It's about the modern world where our communication value systems are so reduced that you wonder if we're actually getting any clear point across'.

Having played a triumphant sold out show at the Royal Albert Hall in May last year, OMD head back out on the road again this autumn for a string of must-see shows, including a show at The Roundhouse November 13th.

Festival Records and Warner Music Australia are excited to release another exciting and unique new collection of Australian music, 'Closed Circuits: Australian Alternative Electronic Music Of The '70s & '80s, Volume 1.'

Compiled by noted Australian music writer and historian David Nichols, 'Closed Circuits' looks at what happened in Australia when the machines started taking over in the wake of punk in the late 70s. Synthesisers and other new technology accompanied a new DIY mentality and very quickly made their presence felt right across the pop spectrum. The collection looks at some of the underground innovators - the likes of Whirlywirld, Essendon Airport, Voigt/465 and Scattered Order - and also some of those who wedded the new sounds with more commercial instincts and created new styles of pop music, like the Dugites, Models, the Reels and the Machinations. It is a range of music that is sometimes fun, sometimes intensely serious, and always innovative.

Nichols puts it like this in his liner notes: "This collection brings together a wide range of recordings really only united by one thing: people using technology to produce something fresh. These were not necessarily artists wedded to the idea of the 'new wave' or even hoping to wipe out old rock music, but what these tracks do represent is forward-thinking, inventive, progress... Most (not all) of the people on this collection were in their early-to-mid 20s, their reference points growing up in the 70s might have been Bowie's Berlin period albums, or Roxy Music - particularly the Eno years - or Brian Eno's own solo material, perhaps groups like Suicide. Many tracks sound like their creators spent their formative years immersed in the fun experimental side of progressive rock (though few seem to remember that experience). Others were more into the shock element of the new wave/ post punk world - or the DIY nature of synthesisers and other new technology. It didn't hurt that between the late 70s and early 80s the hardware got cheaper, fast - though five or six hundred dollars for a synthesizer was still a major investment."

'Closed Circuits' features detailed liner notes and track-by-track commentary by Nichols as well as an original design by Michael Trudgeon, the graphic designer for the seminal Melbourne '80s cassette fanzine 'Fast Forward' (which was a vital outlet for this music back in the day), as well as numerous images.

'Closed Circuits' provides a unique and invaluable look at the specifically Australian beginnings of key elements of the music of the 80s: music that is more popular and examined more closely now than at any time since it was originally made.

2x LP + CD

Originally released only on cassette in 1986, "Embrace" is mixture of experimental tracks of the duo Martin Kornberger & Volker Kuhn. 600 copies LTD. Recommended!

1x each customer!

Limited edition 12' EP featuring 5 remixes by UNKLE, Ewan Pearson, Tom Furse, Roman Flügel, Lindstrøm & Prins Thomas, presented by Electronic Beats, German Telekom's music platform which has been at the forefront of electronic music for more than 15 years

Submitted to the IntergalacticFM Demo Contest in 2010, Space Cat, was a hit for all that tuned in and a personal favourite of I-F who jammed it plenty on his Bottomless Pit show.

A vinyl release looked promising but never came to fruition for unknown reasons.
Several rumours swirled and cryptic messages posted to the internet before Yellow Beach Balls all but disappeared.

Almost 7 years to the date of the demo contest and we still don't know the story behind YBB, but we do get the release of the Space Cat EP including 3 lo-fi synth-pop tracks to join the aforementioned title-track.

3 Teens Kill 4 was born in the summer of 1980 in the East Village of New York City. They took their name from a New York Post headline. The group consisted of Doug Bressler, Brian Butterick, Julie Hair, Jesse Hultberg, David Wojnarowicz. There was a conscious decision not to have a front person or lead singer. David made cassette tapes with voices and sounds that he held up close to a microphone, fast-forwarding and rewinding. Julie tried different rhythms on a Korg rhythm machine. Brian played a Casio drum machine and Jesse was on bass. Doug joined the group in time to make the debut album. He was a music lover who understood how to avoid covering over the band's non-musicality.

Their debut 7-song mini-album No Motive' was recorded in Fall 1982 and self-released in 1983. Utilizing rhythm boxes, tapes of news reports, odd percussion tools, snatches of song, they chanted political narrative ideas about the modern mess at the time. The album is an amalgam of urban life, a twisted, anti-rhetorical approach to social issues. Songs weave together to create an intelligent, jarring sound. Razor sharp guitar licks and hauntingly ominous bass lines create a tense, oblique abstraction of pain and chaos. For this reissue we've added 3 previously unreleased bonus tracks. Doug says, These songs are very deliberately an experiment in Postmodernism. Sound bytes were stolen from the airwaves and recorded onto bargain cassette tapes. We were stripping the structure of the popular song to the bone. A sort of sonic Duchamp. And throughout it all, runs a childlike sense of play: the judicious use of toys, the schoolyard chants. All of this was happening during the dark and soul-numbing Age of Reagan, with the AIDS crisis looming on the horizon.'

All songs have been remastered for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios. The jacket features a replica of the original front cover with a black and white photo by Seiji Kakizaki and updated back cover featuring a never before seen collage by David Wojnarowicz. Each copy includes a 12-page booklet with liner notes from each band member, photos, lyrics and press clippings. We've also printed a special 12'x24' fold out diptych painting by David Wojnarowicz whom this reissue is dedicated to.

We were representative of our time and place. East village, New York City, 1980s. All-night, after-hour busboy jobs in trendy nightclubs, early morning breakfast at Veselka's diner. Drugs and no-drugs. Gay and not-gay. New York.' - Jesse Hultberg

Medical Records proudly presents a special limited edition of all 3 "Forgotten Tracks, Sketches and Unfinished Work 2002-2004" by Martial Canterel as a triple gatefold set. Volume I was released previously in 2013, and Volume II and III are simultaneously being released by Medical Records as standalones. 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 in a triple gatefold pack.

Mannequin Records is proud to present a LP compilation of Michael Antener (Swamp Terrorist) early 80's minimal synth/industrial projects Nacht'raum (with Michael Stämpfli) and, as solo, Bande Berne Crematoire.
.
Heavily influenced by the works of SPK and Nocturnal Emissions, Michael Antener made his first recordings in the basement of his parents house in a small village nearby Bern, Utzensdorf. He started BBC in 1980, a hybrid of Neue Deutsch Welle and noise/experimental, making a household name in the international home recording scene of the time and participating to many tape compilations.

Teaming up with Michael Stämpfli as Nacht'raum, he self-released the untitled mini-lp in 1983. Coming out from the same town of Grauzone, the duo moved into the darkest minimal electronic sounds, choosing German as main language for the lyrics and a Roland Tr-808 as main drum machine, bringing the sound to a proto-electro dimension. Nacth'raum will be historically a real gem in the 80's Swiss underground electronic music, together with Mittageisen, Grauzone, Liliput, The Vyllies.

Michael, by the way, later teamed up with Ane Hebeisen and they went by the name of Swamp Terrorists, releasing seven albums and touring throughout the world until the end of the nineties. At the end of the nineties he sold all his instruments and became independent as a graphic artist.

Executive Slacks began in the hot, humid summer of 1980 Philadelphia by Matt Marello, John Young and Albert Ganss, three bored, broke, anxious art students. Starting out with performance art in subways, they soon took their angst-ridden act to galleries and night clubs. The band found their moniker in a run-down bookstore after seeing an ad for men

Dark Entries is proud to present Household Shocks', a 16-track compilation of UK DIY/Synth/New Wave/Post-Punk originally released in 1980. The album showcases 9 bands from the thriving post-punk scene in Scunthorpe and the North of England. Operating on a shoestring budget, co-producers Chris Leaning and Paul Singleton (both of One Gang Logic), released "Household Shocks" on Stark Products, a label they founded in 1979. At almost 50 minutes of music, the album took four weeks to produce at the Studio Playground in Lincoln. It was supported heavily by the late Radio 1 DJ John Peel. In July 1980 Paul Singleton and Chris Leaning opened a record shop in Lincolnshire, England. It opened under the name All Tomorrow's Parties', but later moved to the city center and was renamed Parade.' Through their growing local music scene and the separation of economic classes, their shop became the hangout for the local punk movement. It was there that the idea for Household Shocks', a compilation of their friend's bands, was born. THUNDERBOYS offer three punky pop blazers and feature Carmel McCourt who who subsequently achieved chart success with her band Carmel. PRODUCT OF REASON contribute three haunting synthesizer heavy numbers. SINKING SHIPS supply two tracks of off-kilter dubbed out angst ('Weight Loss' is the best Gang of Four song not by the Gang of Four). JUVENILES provide two power pop jams. MYSTERY GIRLS supply one track of quirky post-punk that recalls The Prats. DEFECTORS, a female fronted quartet featuring COUM Transmissions affiliate Tony Menzies, grant us one superb track of somber gothic new wave. FAULT 151 serve a slice of wistful Flying Nun-esque indie pop featuring a 14-year old bassist. URBANTECH, a short-lived synth-punk outfit, deliver one delirious track. ONE GANG LOGIC contribute two metallic synthesizer drenched pieces and close the album with a somber atmosphere.

Early pioneers of the German New Wave music scene, Din A Testbild were formed in 1978 by Mark Eins and Gudrun Gut (former member of Einstürzende Neubauten, Mania D. and Malaria!). Din A Testbild played a significant role in defining the avant-garde music of Berlin. Legendary is their partecipation at the 'Festival Genialer Dilletanten" in 1981.
Mixed and produced by Klaus Schulze on his own record label Innovative Communication in 1980, 'Programm 1' was a favourite in the playlists of the Italian cosmic dj heroes Daniele Baldelli and Dj Mozart.

REPRESSED !!
Lovely release from Chee Shimizu's 17853 Records. Reworkings of Dip in the Pool singer and lyricist , Miyako Koda's from her first (and quite unknown) solo album "Jupiter". Deaturing Jordan Gcz and Wolf Muller... TIP!
.
The original album was released in 1989, and featured productions from well known Japanese artists such as: Haruomi Hosono, Yasuaki Shimizu, Towa Tei, Gonzalez Mikami from Gontiti. Earlier this year, the bands producer Tatsuji Kimura planned this new project with Japanese DJ Chee Shimizu. Together they produced this five tracks mini-album featuring the Amsterdam based Jordan GCZ and Dusseldorf's Wolf Muller.

The label say ' The first track on side A, "Io" was created by Yasuaki Shimizu originally. Chee Shimizu made a floating long edit with minimal sequence of synthesizer, sounds of birds and insects. Jordan Czamanski a.k.a. Jordan GCZ re-edited for second track on side B "Ndembu". He created atmospheric soundscape used previously unreleased version performed by percussions unit Ochi Brothers. The third track on side A "Butter" was included original version by Towa Tei who well-known as Dee-Lite. The first track on side B "Sleep In Peace" was included remix by unbelievable group session. Original song was created by Haruomi Hosono and Tatsuji Kimura. Jordan Czmanski added some new melodies by his synthesizer, Tasuji Kimura also played additional synthesizer and new line for bass, and Wolf Müller played his metal bowl percussions. the last track on side B "A Sea Of Love" is remix by Chee Shimizu. He created layered sound wih Miyako Koda's poetry reading and relaxing sea wave.

Seigen Ono who is one of top recording engineer in Japan as well as known, he operated mastering for all traces, and sublimated superb sound.'

Cult Organ Horror 7" From West Flanders, Belgium. 12" Picture Sleeve + Linernotes on the back. Restored & Remastered

The first release by Parisian iconoclast Joakim for his friends and European colleagues at DJ Tennis' Life And Death records is a miniature nocturne for dance floor meditation, a cascade of unfurling fizzy moods and introspection, finally tuned and expertly rendered by the electronic music maestro.
"I met Manfredi (Tennis) through Luke Jenner (ex The Rapture) in NYC. When Manfredi has a few days off his busy touring schedule, he comes to my studio to work with Luke on their collaboration project. We usually talk about synths, food, DJ gossip and complain about espressos in NYC. About 6 months ago we were eating Korean fried chicken and Manfredi asked me if I'd like to do something for his label Life & Death. At the time I had a bunch of club tunes I started working on and somehow had a feeling some of them could be a fit for Life & Death so I played those and Manfredi very quickly picked one, 'Daemon'. I thought putting out something on Life & Death was at the same time kind of odd (and if you didn't notice yet, I like when things are unexpected) and totally appropriate.

Why do firework designers put the big burst at the end
Why is the fourth movement of a symphony the most powerful one
Why does the climax come at the end of the movie instead of the beginning
Why do we eat dessert last
Because we all love to save the best for last.

The third and final single from BOOKA SHADE´s recently released GALVANY STREET album with CRAIG WALKER is rather special and contains undoubtedly the most obvious pop hit of the album. It has also quickly become a live favourite on the ongoing album tour across Europe.

LONELIEST BOY is often described as Pet Shop Boys meets Booka Shade. The previously unreleased single & extended versions are quite different from the album version. One highlights the pop qualities and get´s straight to the point, the other with the dancefloor in mind.

But that´s not it... yet.

The previously unreleased JUST LIKE TONIGHT could compete with the best moments of NEW ORDER. Next to LONELIEST BOY it is easily one of the most catchy tunes ever recorded by BOOKA SHADE. Arno and Walter didn´t want to overemphasise the pop context of the album, so one of the 2 songs was dropped even with it´s strong melodies - now it´s time to release it from the vault.

In context with LONELIEST BOY the song works perfectly well. Not as a traditional b-side track, but rather a double a-side single. Same as with LONELIEST BOY in single & extended version.

NEP was a loose multimedia collective formed in 1982 Zagreb, ex-Yugoslavia. The founder Dejan Krsic collaborated with various artists in a quest of re-thinking the stale concepts of art history, position of the author and the barriers between pop and elitist high culture. Heavily influenced by Walter Benjamin and Andy Warhol in theory and Brian Eno and Kraftwerk in music, Krsic created NEP as an umbrella term (meaning Nova Evropa) of diverse rule-breaking activities, covering graphic design, music, photography, video, news-media and theoretical work. Musically NEP focused on experiments in ambient and tape-music, mostly self-released or hard to find compilations like "The Cassette Played Poptones" (1988). Deeply immersed in pop-culture, politics and art theory Krsic's search for perfect pop music with cutting critical edge peaked in 1989, the year Decadance track was conceived in studio, but has never been published. Pumping Roland 808 beats, with sampled vocals from Linda Cooper asking herself "How do I dance to this music" were chosen by Fox & His Friends label owners Leri Ahel and Zeljko Luketic for a 12" opener of the unknown NEP's pop history. This single is a sneak-peak into the world of POP NOT POP, the album and a graphic book merged into one multimedia entity, to be released later this year. All material is restored and mastered from original reel-to-reel tapes and presented on wax for the first time and for this occasion, deconstructed and reinvented in a remix B-side by Snuffo, masked hero of the Snuff Crew fame. Snuffo splitted the title vocal into a new cut-up, now telling "Dance to this music" to its audiences. And indeed, NEP's Decadance is meant to be danced to, either side you choose to play. NEP on this 1989 track was led by Dejan Krsic, now famous graphic designer and art historian in Croatia, but other collaborators include Laibach and Borghesia photographer Jane Stravs, artist and TV director Gordana Brzovic, Jovan Culibrk, now Bishop at The Serbian Orthodox Church and Anja Rupel, singer of cult Yugoslavian synth-pop group Videosex.

Following celebrated compilations from Motor City Drum Ensemble and Young Marco - and with the second edition of its limited-capacity festival in Croatia right around the corner - Dekmantel's Selectors series now continues with an edition curated by Marcel Dettmann
.
Although he's now known as one of the world's most celebrated techno artists, even Marcel Dettmann had to start somewhere. Long before he ever held court at Berghain (or its predecessor, Ostgut), he was just another young boy in Eastern Germany, one whose earliest encounters with capitalism involved spending every penny he could scrape together down at the local record shop. In those days, it wasn't techno that got him excited, but new wave, post-punk, industrial and EBM acts like Front 242 and Depeche Mode

It's music from my childhood,' says Dettmann. It's still relevant and still inspires me.' That inspiration can be heard across this edition of the Selectors series, as Dettmann has put together what he describes as a pre-techno compilation.' Much like the previous Selectors editions, the compilation is not a mix CD, but a collection of tracks hand picked by Dettmann from his own vinyl archives. Freshly remastered - and occasionally reworked or re-edited by Dettmann himself - the songs here are undoubtedly vintage gems, but they also represent a very personal journey into Dettmann's past.

It was a great opportunity to dig deeper into my own musical outlook,' he explains. The tracks come from a time before Marcel Dettmann became a DJ.' Simply put, the songs here are some of the building blocks upon which he's built an incredibly storied career, and now he'd like to entrust them to future generations.

In 1977 Ian Dury & The Blockheads recorded their seminal album New Boots & Panties'. A quarter of a century later, east central one re-recorded the album with all manner of incredible guest artists, backed by The Blockheads, in celebration of and as a tribute to a classic piece of work.

The album, featuring performances by Paul McCartney, Robbie Williams, Sinead O'Connor and others, is now available again through Active Media.

REPRESSED !!
One of the holy grail of the minimal synth and one of the most obscure musical projects ever produced in Italy is finally reissued on Mannequin Records.
Originally released in 1981 by Broadbean Records, a sub-label of LM Records, Flo & Andrew only release 'Take Suicide' was home-recorded and home-mixed by the duo in Bologna, using early drum machines like the Boss Dr-55 and the Korg Kr-55, analog synthesizers, guitar, saxophone, tape loops. Flo & Andrew music is truly unique and exemplifies the fact that limitation can be the perfect source for creativity. The title-track and 'To Committ Suicide' travel through contort and nervous synth sounds and loops, taking somehow inspiration from the No Wave heroes, while 'Japanese Girls' is nothing less than a beautiful minimal electronics track in the mythology of the futuristic rise of Japanese country. Recently (re)discovered, 'Take Suicide' is a milestone of the European minimal synth singles and is not really a coincidence that a young generations of producers take it as inspiration (you can see 'Take Suicide' floating in the tracklist of artists as Helena Hauff and NGLY). Another must have in your collection / record bag!

REPRESSED !!

TX Connect's Gavin Guthrie is a horror soundtrack enthusiast and regularly DJs gigs with that premise. So it's no surprise that he'd produce an EP that implements these themes.
The T.R.U. Halloween EP is a special edition EP that collects and compiles 5 tracks from Gavin's inner circle that range
from 80's era horror soundtrack chase scene music to dark techno. With the recent surgence of Survive and Stranger Things, this EP fits right in the pocket and is slated for a
Halloween 2016 release.

"Amarcord" the debut vinyl from OOBE Italian New-New wave producer Yari Malaspina. OOBE stands for Out Of Body Experience. And that is the exact feeling you get when listening to these productions.

Electric guitar, house music and nostalgic experimentation come together in an unforgettable cocktail of Italian emotion. It all translates into an international language of love and violence.

Like a lost artifact from a time when motorcycles roamed the streets in a dystopian dance of demons, delight and decay.

Immerse yourself in the thick anticipation of VIRTUAL-E before the beat drops with yearning vocals. Crush Mind spins your head in circles like a mantra about the circle of Life. 1989 Summer hits you in the chest with barely audible vocals sat in the mix like a dusty record in a forgotten second hand shop. Finally closing track Amarcord and title name, send you into a deep spiral only saved by hitting the repeat button.

Electro House songs in a New Wave state of mind ^^

Ant6-en back to the Synth-wave roots , with a full album of electr-indus featuring The Horrorist remix... a banging insane tune !! Its good to hear a label coming from these dark ages of this electronik music producing this style again... no nostalgy ! Just history !!

Montréal synth pop Police des moeurs are one of the finest and rawest bands in the minimal synth/wave and cold wave scene. 'Dédales', their third full lenght, is keeping the pure energy of their previous efforts while leaving greater room for atmospheric and textural considerations. The album will lead you into the passage zone between civilisation and wilderness, a mysterious place where truth, lies, light and darkness collide. Limited edition of 500 copies.