Pop & Rock News

Reclusive left field producer Heidi Mortenson releases her radical fourth album: Spectrum. The album marks the Woods-via-Barcelona-and-Berlin producer’s most intimate album to date, a kinetic, self-produced record flush with attitude, playfullnes and vulnerability.

Mortenson’s critically acclaimed 2005 debut album Wired Stuff, released on Mortenson’s own imprint Wired Records, revealed a visionary and bold producer. It offered up deeply queered DIY-pop - synthesized, direct tomboytronica cut with soul-y flourishes, and spell-binding androgyny. But it was 2012’s Mørk EP (“Characterized by it's mature essence and pensive vocals, Mørk is a powerful combination of ferociousness and utmost delicacy.”, AIAIAI) released on RUMP Recordings, where Mortenson, with a fearless dive into the darkness, revealed her ability to combine a new sound of pop-oriented music with blinding native language that led international listeners to their own interpretation by the sheer and unmistaken atmosphere of the music. Spectrum offers up something brighter together with what characterizes Mortenson’s music: emotionally-charged, biographical anthems drawn from lived experiences as a gay, autistic, gender-non-conforming artist. An artist on the spectrum in all regards.

Spectrum was written and produced in Mortenson’s recording studio in the woods over the past four years. It waves like a neon green aurora, lighting up with the tape-delays and spring reverbs that have become Mortenson’s signature, though critics and fans will hear a subtle, ear worm-y shift in style here: from the openhearted and oddly swinging ‘Just A Feeling’ and the slow-dancing-in-the-dark of ‘The Fire That Keeps Me Alive’ and the gloomy yet hopeful ‘Time In Between’, to the substantial, 80s synth-laced ‘Illusion’. The big wondering and philosophical approach to feelings and situations is an ongoing process documented with music.

"Humans come in a wide variety of identities within gender and sexuality, just like people on the autism spectrum have something in common, but yet are very different. That is why it makes sense to talk about a spectrum which offers diversity instead of stereotypes.” Mortenson’s approach is emotion and commitment to detail and how the feeling of a situation translates into sound. Listen closely, for example, to the lyrics on ‘Paradise On Earth’ and you will sense the introvert and reclusive life style in the woods “If I’m the only human left on this planet / I’ll be just fine, it’s OK / Imagination, memories / Will keep me company”. Or take ‘Just A Feeling’ with a lyric reference to Cat Power and Nina Simone “The moon is full / Every night in slow motion / With Chan and Nina / Gently singing to me” stating a blissful solitude. Finding yourself on the spectrum also means getting to know and understand the essence of yourself better, what you saw as a weakness you may start to see as a strength. Take Spectrum’s ending track ‘Bring It On’: “Here comes abundance / Through nature’s gates and high water / I recognise this feeling / Bring it on, I deliver”.

Ultimately, Spectrum is a celebration of liberation, a melodic-filled record that sees Mortenson consolidating spectrum both personal and artistic.

11 never-heard tracks from Synthzerland pioneer Bruno Spoerri, released for the first time on vinyl, with liner notes by the artist. WRWTFWW Records is very delighted to announce the release of Rare & Unreleased 1971-1998, a collection of never-heard and hard-to-find works by Swiss music pioneer and synth super wizard Bruno Spoerri. The album is sourced from original masters and available on a vinyl LP cut at Emil Berliner Studios (formerly the in-house recording department of Deutsche Grammophon), housed in a 350g sleeve with a superb artwork by Nicolas Eigenheer, and packed with track-by-track liner notes by Mr. Spoerri. Rare & Unreleased 1971-1998 gives a fascinating glimpse into Bruno Spoerri's incredibly inventive repertoire, collecting tracks from projects as diverse as commissioned music for trade fairs, the Swiss railroads, or the union of Swiss cheese makers(!), soundtracks for TV shows about ecology, live synth improvisations at Montreux Jazz Festival, and sound installations for art exhibitions. Always the adventurer, Spoerri records a pneumatic drill for the irresistible electronic bossa of 'Konzert für SIG-Pressluftwerkzeuge", mixes train sounds and the EMS Synthi-100 for the joyful lo-fi funk of 'Rollin'", lets overheating synthesizers take a life of their own to create the sci-fi ambient of 'Waves of Montreux", and works with bees, pigs and various birds for the environmental music bliss of 'Rhythm'n bees' and 'Birds of Cochin". Synthzerland rejoice, it's time for another captivating journey of sound exploration on Planet Spoerri! Bruno Spoerri celebrated his 83th birthday in August this year. He is still experimenting, recording, customizing audio gear, improvising on stage and in the studio, collaborating (Julian Sartorius, Franz Treichler of Young Gods, Marco Repetto of Grauzone, Roger Girod...), inventing new sounds and finding new creative outlets.

Bonanza Banzai was a popular techno-pop band formed in Budapest in 1988 by Zsolt Hauber (synths, percussion), Ákos Kovács (vocals, guitar) and Gábor Menczel (synths). They were known as the "Hungarian Depeche Mode” and released a total of eight studio albums during six years of existence.

Their debut "Induljon a banzáj!” in 1989 was a huge success selling more than 50,000 copies. A second album, “A Jel”, was released next year followed by numerous live shows and positive reviews in local press. In 1990 they started flipping overseas preparing a compilation including songs from the first two albums, some specially recorded with English lyrics. As a result, video clips were broadcasted in Japan and played a show in Germany. In the spring of 1991 unleashed their cult album “1984”, a recording based on the work of George Orwell, which was also received by a huge success and kept the band active doing concerts in all Hungary. "A Pillanat Emlékműve” appeared in the fall of 1991 again with a great triumph.

Although the band was apparently in the peak of success, problems started to arise among the members. According to Ákos electronic music had achieved what it could and it was time to change style, but according to Gábor and Zsolt the world was being conquered by electronic dance music. The band continued working together in a way or another for some more years, released a few more albums and touring until 1994 when everything came to the inevitable split-up. Kovács continued his solo career and is currently a successful pop-rock star.

"Early Years 89-91” offers a special selection of songs from the first albums. Limited edition of 500 copies on double vinyl with an exclusive postcard. Artwork designed by Stefan Alt.

We have been working on this reissue since we began the label 10 years ago, and finally its ready to share with the world. Velodrome need no introduction to most, but for the uninitiated, they are the duo of Krishna Goineau (Electronics + Vocals) and Jordi Guber (Electronics + Programming). At age 15, Jordi played guitar in Barcelona punk band Ultimo Resorte, and formed Líneas Aereas with Frank Palomo after becoming interested in electronics. Krishna had been performing with Chrislo Haas and Beate Bartel in Liaisons Dangereuses. Krishna and Jordi met in 1979 through Jordi’s brother Raul, who was in the no wave group Xeerox. The idea of collaborating came when Krishna paid a visit to the rehearsal studio that Xeerox shared with Líneas Aereas. After dissolving Liaisons Dangereuses in 1983, Krishna, who was impressed by Jordi's synthesizer skills, decided they should move to Brussels. There they formed the short lived Metropakt, releasing two songs on various compilations in 1985. Not long after, they re-named their project Velodrome and began to rehearse with greater discipline. Experimenting with the latest Roland machines, which were equipped with MIDI, was an exciting challenge for the duo. In November 1987 they recorded three songs, “Au Velodrome 141”, “Glassfabrik” and “Capataz” at ICP Studios in Brussels, with additional vocals from Annemie Gers. They found a home on German label Animalized, and the songs were released in 1988 as the ‘На Велодроме 141’ EP. The record is striking, dynamic, challenging yet accessible, with Krishna's frenzied vocals sharply contrasting with the cool, angular production. In more recent years, the release has become much sought after by fans of techno, electro, minimal synth, and avant-garde music. Each song has been remastered by George Horn at Fantasy Studios. The vinyl comes with a postcard and features the original jacket art with a photo of the rings of Saturn, echoing Krishna’s words, "we slide very well through the velodrome, there are no limits, only ice."

Oráculo Records proudly presents “OMBRA FESTIVAL Unusual Sounds Gathering Volume 1”, a vinyl compilation created to celebrate the very upcoming second edition of OMBRA FESTIVAL, that will take place next november 29th and 30th in different spots of Barcelona. Released in a one-off limited edition of 300 copies it includes unreleased material by some of the artists that joined OMBRA FESTIVAL project and that majorly will be part of the scheduled OMBRA FESTIVAL live shows. Featuring new music by THE PRESENT MOMENT, CELLDÖD, PSYCHE, RNXRX and WE ARE NOT BROTHERS. All tracks has been specially remastered by Eric Van Wonterghem at Prodam Berlin.

"Wolfram is a friend you want to keep. He is also one of the last real entertainers in show business. Co-existing in many worlds, he is always able to surprise you. He is a good observer with a great timing. The way he processes cultural developments in his work is always on point.

Most importantly he has a good sense of humour.

His second album “Amadeus” to be co-released by “Live From Earth” and “Public Possession” (DFA Rec. overseas) perfectly intertwines all the above-mentioned facets.

On the ten tracks of the Album there are guests as diverse as Peaches, Yung Hurn, Egyptian Lover, Pamela Anderson and Haddaway.

A normal day in the life of Wolfi. He has many friends and you should join them. Enjoy the Album."

Vinyl limited edition, includes lyrics booklet, white vinyl, silver layer printed on cover art, % donated to charity.

To be released on World Mental Health Day, part of the album's proceeds will be donated to a UK-based mental health charity. 'I often wonder how sadness moves through people,' Emika says, 'through time, through stories and history, and if it's something that becomes us rather than coming from us.'
% of album sales will be donated to charity Help Musicians UK
emikarecords. com Invites fans to anonymously share their experiences of depression and create a waterfall of comments inspired by the song Wash It All Away
Studio video promoting the album via Soundcloud, Autumn
Live / DJ video, promoting the album with Beatport, Autumn
Live streaming of the album from Emika's studio via FB, Insta, YT, September.
Bookings by Christopher at Melt Bookings. Team chose to give fans time to listen to the album first, shows starting early 2019, special album show with live band and dome visuals planned in the Berlin Planetarium Feb 2019. A few promo shows summer / fall 2018.
Boiler Room live show as part of Open Dance Floor series tbc
* Given its years of manifestation behind the scenes of other projects, Falling In Love With Sadness reflects a renewed understanding of Emika's own genealogy, kindred lineage and its connection to modernity. Marking a drastic departure from the menacing, stripped-down qualities of albums past, Dva and Drei, Emika has surfaced with a new upwelling of sound gracing the bittersweet, melancholic and sanguine.

* With the interplay of myriad genres both rhythmically and melodically intertwining between spacey, dub tinged Promises, lush synth pop hooks on Escape and the title track's soulful electro, a full spectrum of musicology remains primary to the ever-evolving chroma of Emika's umbrous sound.

* Further characterised by the breathy sibilance and sultry tones of Emika's noirish, vocal aesthetic, the album navigates through the morose and trappings of misanthropy by illuminating a narrative of emotional resilience and recovery.

* Co-produced with Robert Witschakowski of The Exaltics, and continuing her collaboration with guitarist Chris Lockington (as heard on Drei and Dva), Falling In Love With Sadness provides a fifth solo album for Emika, but moreover, defines itself as an overture for her future works.

Shari Vari, is a Hamburg based duo comprising of Sophia Kennedy and Helena Ratka. Sophia Kennedy's name might ring a bell to “professional” and unprofessional audience: The Baltimore born and Hamburg bred luminary released her self titled debut record to quite some critical acclaim on DJ Koze's Pampa Records in 2017, a record that was voted amongst the 20 best electronic records of that year by Pitchfork. Shari Vari are everything you didn’t know you were missing in your life. Their lyrics are fresh, funny and “out-there”, their melodies are catchy and their rhythms are groovy as hell. Their debut LP on Malka Tuti titled NOW is a collection of 8 songs, groovy, gloomy, cheerful and contemplative, mixed all together in mish-mash of genres and influences. Whether they are echoing Suicide’s Alan Vega in songs such as Out of Order or Dance Alone, or telling a story laid over an almost exotic dubby beat in Jungle, their debut album throws the listener back to the days when having all the music in the world in the palm of your hand was a dis- tant dream, and one would simply listen over and over again to their favorite cd on their Sony (or Panasonic?) Disc player until every note and every word in the lyrics is etched to their memory...

‘Autonomy’ is a fiercely independent album and serves as a testimony to the united couple’s instinctive DIY attitude; for 10 years now, everything The Golden Filter has done from, producing, mixing, releasing, to shooting videos and press shots is a sovereign endeavour. Here, the duo finds themselves at a point of fearless positivity and an unbreakable creative synchronicity. This is undoubtedly one of their most focused and ambitious releases so far.

Born out of their own self-contained studio in Peckham, free from external influence, Penelope and Stephen set about on a mission of self-searching and solipsism drawing influence from their love and unity that sternly defies the damage caused by the ever-growing daily trauma of capitalism and politics. Staunchly feminist and optimistically reflecting on the growing human disconnect from reality, ‘Autonomy’ pulls subtly from the gloomier sides of British life and culture, The Golden Filter’s home now for the last four years.

‘Autonomy’ mines dark and experimental electronic tones; simultaneously conjuring dystopian synthscapes, EBM, post-punk, motoric electro and minimal wave. ‘Coercion’ is a mournful new wave cut that places Penelope’s recent brand of “inky dream pop” underpinned by Stephen’s pulsating synths as the perfect soundtrack to the rapture.

Tracks like ‘Autonomy’ and ‘Infinity’ find The Golden Filter in more familiar territory, thrusting post-punk electronics that straddle the gap between Panorama Bar staples and wayward, thought provoking art-pop. ‘Electric Light’ is an updated homage to old-school sounds of Siouxsie and New Order that take on the duo’s message of finding light in the dark and remaining open minded to each other as humans. Album closer ‘All The Queens’ is the most front-facing example of the duo’s political inspirations; imagining a new world, reborn under the rule of divine femininity.

With the demise of the group Wire in 1980, founder members Bruce Gilbert and Graham Lewis joined forces to create Dome. With the assistance of engineer Eric Radcliffe and his Blackwing Studio Dome took the ethic of »using the studio as a compositional tool« and recorded and released three Dome albums on their own label in the space of 12 months: »Dome« (July 1980), »Dome 2« (October 1980) and »Dome 3« (October 1981). A final fourth album, »Will You Speak this World: Dome 4« was released on the Norwegian Uniton label in May 1983.

These albums represent some of the most beautifuly stark and above all timeless exercises in studio experimentation from early 1980s alternative music scene.

A fruitful collaboration between lyricist Andrew Birtles, composer David Watts, producer Dave Foister, and the beautiful voice of Kym Amps of which only two tracks were released on a 7". Now, almost 40 years after the original release date, the full album finally sees the light of day through Monte Cristo.

Kym Amps' powerful and moving vocal performance is supported by minimal electronic new-wavish arrangements that were produced with, at the time, cutting edge equipment.

Don Laka, short for Donald Laka, is a South African jazz and funk musician. He was a very influential musician in the 80`s and 90`s, working with the likes of Sipho Mabuse, Brenda Fassie, and Sankomota. In 1986 he released a four track EP, Stages of love. The track Stages, an upbeat, synth-driven disco song, has never been released like this before. Here you have the original song, wonderfully pressed on a whole side. The other side contains a delicious Prins Thomas edit, almost nine minutes of high octane South African discoboogie. Both sides are remastered, giving the song the whole sonically register. The original 4 tracker is almost impossible to find, but here you get the full original version plus the tasty Prins Thomas edit, in a beautiful cover reinterpreted by the 1986 original cover.

2nd full length album by Gavin Guthrie AKA TX Connect (previous releases on Ceme Organization and L.I.E.S.). Influenced by a diverse background of Italo, acid, horror soundtracks, industrial and EBM, Gavin crafts dance floor stompers using analog tools and tape. Not only a producer, he's also a reputed DJ and head honcho at Texas Recordings Underground (TRU) record label. Spread over 2 LPs, these 10 tracks will be atomic bombs in your next DJ set but could just as easily be the soundtrack to your next cerebral vacation. All tracks carefully mastered by Martin Bowes. Limited Edition.

2018 post-punk revelation (“the New Order of our generation”).
Killer lo-fi synth-pop from Belarus.
Fifth press.

Les Points Pay A Twisted Homage To The Early Foundations Of Electronic Music Where Hard To Get Tapes, Dystopia And The Sound Of The Wretched Worker Where Present In Genres Like Post-punk, Industrial, Minimal Synth, New Beat And Wave.

It's changing, the worker searched for post-leftist solutions and got lost.
Nine circles applauded the proletariat and imagined how a community
could be congregated, while screams of violence would be filtered by boiling blood.
Exploiters of labor either find themselves rotting away in a never ending icy rain or are dragging their selfish accumulations on their chests for eternity - while the worker slowly identifies himself as a counter-commodity. Algorhythms (fraud) always mislead - once the worker gets past them only Dis will be awaiting her/him.

Originally self-released in 1985 for Sterile Records, 'SOLAR' is the Nocturnal Emission's most successful album ever. The release is marking the end of a period of more "conventional" songwriting and instrument use for Nocturnal Emissions.

The first couple of albums were brooding, bleak affairs that called to mind a more sedate version of SPK. Then came a few albums that were firmly song-dominated. 'SOLAR' was the last of the bunch, and was the most explicitly "message"-oriented and political.

"Songs of Love and Revolution" was a big step forward for the band, having a full colour cover and turning the NE sound further towards electronic pop music. Classics such as "No Sacrifice" and "Never give up" have made this an essential album for every fan of electronic music.

As Nigel himself reminds, they were buying lots of equipment at the time and seemed to have naturally acquired some skill over the years so they thought, ‘Let’s make some pop music.' He continues: "The Miners’ Strike was on and there were riots down our street in Brixton. I was convinced there was going to be a revolution. But it would probably have been quite unpleasant. All these old punks and hippies preaching revolution, I don’t think we were really prepared to live with the consequences. If we actually had a revolution in this country, it would be like Iraq or something, or Syria. But we were having horrible times with Thatcher. All we could do in that sort of milieu was imagine what the alternative would be like."

Private Lesson: Project from Los Angeles comprised of

Damon Palermo (Damon Eliza Palermo, Magic Touch)
Nick Malkin (Nick Malkin, Afterhours, Post Geography, La Vampires, Sun Araw)

Featuring contributions from

Vocals/Lyrics: Takako Minekawa
Production/Mix: Sam Eaton
Master: Gabriel Schuman

Pantene was a live performance art-pop group that existed in Berlin, Germany in 2015. Its four core band members; Marijn Degenaar, Molly Dyson, Olle Holmberg, and Rahel Tierbach took a DIY approach to instrumentation and arrangement, where intergenerational low-fidelity samples collide with subversive and pithy lyrics. Using laptops, MIDI, samplers and effects units to deliver re-contextualised pieces of music, Pantene explored issues surrounding cultural constructions of power, identity and sexuality with effortless aplomb.

After 10 years of vinyl pressings on Lapsus Records it's now time for our first ever "vocal" release!

Many of our Lapsus Radio (Radio 3) followers may already be aware of our fondness for synth-pop, however as a label we have never dabbled with this often unfairly maligned genre, until now...

From the moment we first heard the material from British artist Circa 2000 something magical transpired. William Wiffen's production blueprint signals a new twist in this forty-year old genre. ‘Thoughts In Vias’ –the album released in 2017 on Computer Club, the sub-label of influential Sheffield label Central Processing Unit– offered the first opportunity for us to witness the work of Circa 2000, the UK producer and composer residing in the costal city of Brighton. After his debut, in 2018 William released the ‘The Sun To The Waxing Moon’ EP on the multifaceted Chilean platform Infinito Audio, in which he delved into his more experimental production side.

Circa 2000 now joins Lapsus Records to present ‘Faith Healer’, his most personal work to date and a palpable tribute to the work of Scottish composer Alex Harvey, during his time leading The Sensational Alex Harvey Band. ‘Faith Healer’ is a seven-track album that revisits the nascent days of new wave and synth. It is an exercise in raw and analogue electronics that transports us back to the golden era of synthetic electronica, in which bands like Deux, Victrola and Monoton redefined minimalism and underground pop.

‘Faith Healer’ will be released in July and available on limited edition vinyl and all digital formats. As always, the Basora studio has once again provided us with stunning artwork for this release.

Sony Music Entertainment's Depeche Mode 12" vinyl singles project
continues with the release of Black Celebration | The 12" Singles and
Music For The Masses | The 12" Singles on 31st May 2019.
Each of these definitive box sets contains 12" vinyl singles
contemporaneous to either Black Celebration (1986) or Music For The
Masses (1987). Both pivotal releases in the Depeche Mode canon, these
albums advanced the band's musical mission, moving the DM sound from
industrial pop into darker atmospheric emotional territory.
Following its release in 1986, Black Celebration became the group's
then-highest charting album in both the UK and Germany, expanding
their influence across pop culture while inspiring myriad young
musicians to start bands of their own.
The next year, Music For The Masses furthered Depeche Mode's
international mass appeal, breaking open the United States and other
markets with the record-setting Music For The Masses Tour. An
electrifying and historic adventure for band and audiences worldwide,
the tour included Depeche Mode concerts in then-communist East
Berlin, Budapest, and Prague.
Both Black Celebration | The 12" Singles and Music For The Masses |
The 12" Singles extended Depeche Mode's increasingly mind-blowing run
of 12" singles and featured some of the band's most sublime artwork
to date. Each of the albums showcased some of the most enduring
singles in the DM catalog; Black Celebration featured "A Question of
Lust" and "Stripped" while Music For The Masses contained "Never Let
Me Down Again" and "Strangelove" (Depeche Mode's first #1 US Dance
chart hit).
Black Celebration | The 12" Singles contains the four original 12"
releases from the album plus a 12" vinyl version of the limited
edition "A Question of Lust" cassette release, available for the
first time internationally in this collection.
Music For The Masses | The 12" Singles includes the seven original
and special edition 12" vinyl singles from the album.

“Prove Your Love” by Misunami & First Touch returns to the Neon Finger catalogue in a brand new 12″, including the original versions (vocal and instrumental) plus two new mixes by the enormous Nick Wisdom (1/2 Potatohead People) and the huge Bamboozle aka Eli Soul Clap. After the big success of the track years ago, being played by some of the biggest selectors in the world… This future classic boogie disco track is available again with two new astonishing remixes that will burst into flames any dancefloor. Don’t miss it!

2019 has been a propulsive year for Pomona singer-songwriter Lealani, presenting her debut album Fantastic Planet with a powerful and magnetic response. Releasing the experimental synth-pop album with Dome of Doom on cassette and digital platforms January 18th, a vinyl version is slated for release on the 26th of July. With a limited run of 500 clear red prints, a handful of copies will be available for her opening set with Billy Woods and Kenny Segal (June 27th at The York Manor in LA).

Over the last six months, Lealani has exposed her sound to audiences around the world, receiving coverage from publications and radio outlets such as The Wire, Triple J, L.A. Record, Earmilk, BBC Radio 6, XLR8R, KCRW, NestHQ, Bandcamp Daily, dublab, and The Seventh Hex. Dome of Doom and Obey organized a record release show that featured a unique line of album themed apparel and opening support from Exile, DJ Nobody, Free The Robots, Yoshi Vintage, Steebee Webee, and Gavlyn. Over 600 tapes have been sold and the UK is about to be treated to a run in September with an in-store performance at Rough Trade's London-based store, a guest mix and interview with Tom Ravenscroft for BBC Radio 6, and an opening set at the historic 100 Club. She will precede the UK run with a vinyl promotion show at Bandcamp's new performance space and record store in Oakland.

Following the release of Fantastic Planet earlier this year, Lealani was booked for an opening set at Coachella 2019, performing on the same stage as Aphex Twin, seprentwithfeet, Virgil Abloh, and Four Tet. The prestigious indie film company Landmark licensed her music to play before and after film screenings and Hurley invited her for a filmed live session, becoming the most watched episode in their "Hurley Recordings" series. UK's The Wire will celebrate her works with an inclusion of the album's lead single, "Floating," on a special 50th anniversary of their Wire Tapper CD compilation series.

The vinyl release of Fantastic Planet will continue Lealani's journey as a rising singer/songwriter and innovative storyteller, carving out her own lane with dedication, originality, and authenticity.

Popx not dead!

Fockewulf 190 was a New Wave group from Milan formed in 1980 by Vittorio Barozzi aka Victor Life and Dario Dell'Aere. In 1979 the duo met outside a cinema and began a lifelong collaboration of projects: Diamond Dogs, Ice Eyes, Demode Boulevard and Fockewulf 190, named after the model jet planes Dario fanatically built. Musically, the duo were inspired by the Human League's Reproduction' and John Foxx's Metamatic', while they took visual cues from the New Romantics Visage and Ultravox. With the Fockewulf 190 moniker, they created their own dark blend of Italo disco and New Wave, and released two singles in 1984 and recorded an album's worth of music that eventually saw the light of day in 2010.

By 1983, local DJ and guitarist Salvatore Nonnis aka Stan After was added to the group. The band were searching for a producer and found Giuseppe Mincioni of Market Records who serviced the local DJs at the Taxi Club where Stan worked. Mincioni immediately proposed to make a hit with the Italo Disco production team Miki Chieregato and Roberto Turatti behind such acts as Den Harrow, Joe Yellow, Stylóo, Flexx. Dario handed them a demo called Walking Out' and Turati thought the John Foxx-esque vocals were not commercial enough so they suggested vocalist Fred Ventura. Fred accepted their offer and wrote lyrics for the song politically inspired by living in a world divided in East and West, the Cold War, terrorism, and street violence. The debut single Body Heat' was released in 1984 on Market Records with the band's name misspelled as Fokewulf and vocals wrongly credited to Dario. Clocking in at over 6-minutes, the song features Fred's New Beat style vocals over melancholic, sweeping keyboards and hard edged drum rhythm patterns. On the B-side is an instrumental version with the occasional Hey you take a look at me' chorus. All songs have been remastered by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. The record is housed in an exact replica of the original jacket featuring a black and white mannequin bust shrouded in fog by Filippo Maniscalco. Each copy includes a double-sided postcard with lyrics, notes and photos. This reissue is dedicated to Vittorio Barozzi aka Victor Life who passed away in 2014.

For its second release, Strangelove resurrects two cuts from the Australian cult synth pop duo, ARVO's, much-mythologised 1984 album "Luna". Having spent time in Europe and with heads & heartsfull of the continent's synth-pop movements, Deborah Gray and Roy Nicolson each returned Down-under to discovera doggedly rock orientated landscape. Finding solace in Roy's studio and inspired by their musical O.E.'s, the ARVO concept was formed and an album took shape. A glamorous visual/electronic opus, major label misjudgment and local bewilderment left 'Luna' to unjustly slip under the radar.

Rescued here, "Bikini" channels an Ipanema electronic vibe, nostalgically recalling Antipodean beach culture while the synthetic undercurrents of"So Deep" reflect on the nature of our dreams. Also presented is a reimagined "So Deep'' instrumental from Australia's synth pop scholar-in-chief Hysteric, while French M.O.T.M. Shelter tailors Bikini into an excursion version.

Il Bosco is back at the controls ably assisted by The Bat & Flemming Dalum.

Edit not edit tackle.
Four Red Laser bangers ready for your local diskotek - Forgotten Euro dreams, euphoric Italo & boogie tinged pop-pretenders.
A bona-fide insider selection.

Limited press comes with wrap around riso print poster sleeve in pvc cover...

Mind Records and Spooky are proud to announce the official reissue of "Tapas", an indescribable and beautiful album by Sueño Sueño, a mysterious German duo from Mainz.

Little is known about this album, which was originally released on
cassette only in 1983 by Eduardo Van Kasteren (member of Van Kaye & Ignit) on his label Ding Dong Records.

What we do know is the arousing curiosity it triggers as it unfolds, it feels like a fantasy summer holiday in a dark metallic wintery world, as if somehow Mainz had become a Balearic island. Some comparisons can be made - Naffi Sandwich, Swamp Children, Maximum Joy, Young Marble Giants - but these, all lack the unique ice cold synthetic Latin sound of an imaginary German 80s tapas bar where "Sueno Sueno" all work.

Originally released in 1985, "Saunetic Fraction" finally gets a reissue (limited to 100 copies), and staying true to the original, once again on tape! A collaboration of France's M.NOMIZED (aka Michel Madrange of No Unauthorized) and Belgium's UNOVIDUAL (aka Henk Wallays of Micrart Group / co-founder of the 3rio tape label with Magisch theater and Dirk Ivens of Absolute Body control) . The 18-track album is a diverse beast, but affirms itself among the grandees of Minimal Synth and Electropunk, whilst maintaining a unique twist. At times coming across as the French / Belgian version of Chris & Cosey, there are also elements of the early cut-up Dadaist experimental oddness of Cabaret Voltaire. A much sort after tape, that was originally released in a ludicrously small edition, on Unovidual's own label.

*Please not that the tracks: "Aerial Waves" + "My Geisha", do not appear on the cassette, due to side length issues.

MORE INFO:

M.NOMIZED: Synthesizers, Tapes, Treatments, Loops. / UNOVIDUAL: Synthesizers, Vocal, Drum Box.

Music composed and played by: M.Nomized & Unovidual. Thanks to Peter De Middeleir (Belgium) and Fraction Studio (France) for recordings. All rights reserved. P. 1985.

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

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

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

Rare sought-after future disco via Italy. Composed during the time when GIORGIO MORODER was creating DONNA SUMMER's "I FEEL LOVE" and FRANKIE KNUCKLES was making a name for himself at the WAREHOUSE. Limited import color vinyl. Don't sleep these will be gone fast.

"Kings Cross", the new album of Jay-Jay Johanson, featuring Cocteau Twins Robin Guthrie and a duet with Jeanne Added. The opening track "Not Time Yet' leads us straight into the right mood.This cinematic trip hop that has been the vein of Jay-Jay Johanson since the mid 90s.The first single "Heard Somebody Whistle' is a high tempo driven big beats jazz banger with an unforgettable whistling hook. Again Jay-Jay manages to capture us with his melancholy voice, singing haunting melodies, dressed up in mysterious sounds and experimental drum beats.

it's a 2nd release of studio mule's new project with miyako koda aka dip in the pool.

following the cover version of ohnuki taeko's carnaval,we made the new version of japanese new wave classic 'shinzo no tibia by mariah' with a new lyrics in japanese(original is in armenian)which is written by miyako koda. yasuaki shimizu kindly gave us the permission to do this.

extended version on a side is full of the respect for the original version and dub version on b side is dark new wave dub version. kuniyuki said the idea of this version came from adrian sherwood's remix for depeche mode.

Oblique Russian sound strategist Natalia Salmina’s latest forking path portfolio as Atariame, Voiceless, arose in the wake of a dissociative relocation to Moscow, where she found herself adrift amidst a manic metropolis, alone in a skyscraper staring out at trees: “It made me lose faith in my ability to communicate, in my ideas about life.” Days without speaking turned to weeks. Even in private she felt estranged from her voice, and soon ceased singing.

For solace she turned to her Waldorf Blofeld, mining its panoramic frequencies to craft a shivering suite of futurist-noir nocturnes and rhythmic noise vignettes, equal parts exorcism and manifestation, desperation and delirium. Track titles hint at the headspace – “Outside At 5 AM,” “Same Thought All Day,” “Stay Late” – mirroring the music’s mood of hoods up, headphones on, wandering empty urban tunnels under flickering streetlights. Enigmatically, Salmina slips in a sliver of spectral voice on the intro and exit songs (“Breathe Exercise” and “Deconstruction”), framing them as induction into and escape from the cryptic isolationist condition of the rest of the collection. Mastered by P. Nikolsky, Powerhouse Moscow. Design by Britt Brown.

Margot Records was born in 2006 in Riccione (Italy) from the stable relationship and friendship of the two musicians and djs Pepe and Giaga. They created it to make their music more freely, without impositions, with an own identity, fascinated on every kind of test.

Almost four decades since it’s domestic release, Karen Marks’ 1981 single Cold Café has finally reaped it’s deserved international credit to become one of Australia’s most recognised minimal wave recordings. Efficient Space now showcases the Melbourne artist’s brief but entire discography, including two previously unheard demos, all produced with experimental synthesist Ash Wednesday (The Metronomes, Modern Jazz, Thealonian Music). A rarity in the then male dominated industry, Marks found her footing in music, first through rock journalism and then in band management. Formally of Adelaide, newly arrived synth-punks JAB (Johnny Crash, Ash Wednesday and Bodhan X) approached her for representation, subsequently contributing tracks to seminal 1978 snapshot Lethal Weapons and playing the Crystal Ballroom’s opening night. Wednesday and Crash would soon dissolve JAB, enlisting Mark Ferry and Sean Kelly to create Models. Still under Mark’s management, Models became one of the fastest rising new bands of the punk movement, playing to full houses of dedicated and frenzied fans everywhere. Sadly, internal frictions forced Wednesday and Marks to leave after two years, with Crash following three months later. Her creative relationship with Wednesday fortified with the co-production of his 1980 machine-pop prank Love By Numbers, her swooning chorus uplifting his deadpan count to 100, before the two collaborated on Marks’ own recording persona. Immortalised by the icy Oz wave of Cold Café, her Astor issued 7″ also boasted the caffeinated flip Won’t Wear It For Long - a should be hit with guitar from future Icehouse member Robert Kretschmer.

Patience began as bedroom synth project for songwriter Roxanne Clifford after the break up of her acclaimed indie pop band Veronica Falls. Born out of a desire to experiment with a new sound and analogue synthesizers, the project has since grown to become an all-encompassing persona and serves as the main vehicle for the full emotional spectrum always latent in Clifford’s songwriting. From her first long-sold-out 7” singles on Night School, her knack for melodic hooks and oblique emotional stances already contained a glistening sheen of promise. ‘Dizzy Spells’ serves as an intimate portrait of Clifford’s creative adventure, almost diaristic, conceived and recorded in her home studio, as well as with collaborators Todd Edwards (Daft Punk/Uk Garage fame), Lewis Cook (Free Love/Happy Meals) and engineer Misha Hering (Virginia Wing). Dizzy Spells delivers a debut album that twists Clifford’s songwriting into new shapes and ecstasies. The album dances around melancholy, thrown to the floor like a bad dream to be circled, emerging bright-eyed into the early morning full of hope. The Girls Are Chewing Gum (produced by Todd Edwards) bursts open Dizzy Spells like fresh fruit: sweet and rich with a synth-bass line beamed down from Chicago House heaven. Exquisitely sung by Clifford, it’s a wonderful, funky, instant-classic hinting at sexuality and memories dredged from our bodies’ secrets. The bouncy production expertly renders the addictive power of our ephemeral pleasures. Living Things Don’t Last chases themes of longing and loss, opening up into a life affirming chorus that sings of transience, the passing of time and railing against inertia. It’s the perfect example of a song formula that Roxanne Clifford has almost patented: simple and cutting straight to the point. There are shades of Strawberry Switchblade or French synth pop pioneer Jacno in the happy/sad dichotomy and it is all the better for it. Dizzy Spells features all three long-sold out singles, embedded in the full depth of Patience’s soundworld they fit like pieces of a puzzle. White Of An Eye, The Church and The Pressure—all recorded in Clifford’s former home of Glasgow—crackle with razor sharp melodies and dancefloor-ready dynamics. There are exciting additions to Patience’s sonic palette, brought into sharp relief on Voices In The Sand. In this song, a plaintive Clifford enunciates a heart-torn plea to the antagonist, a mournful cascade of synths and haunting vocals evocative of AC Marias, a sepia-toned ode to anxiety, “a storm is on the way”. On No Roses, a Vince Clarkesque production belies a sunburnt sadness. Clifford defiantly sings “you would go out tonight, but there’s nowhere you like,” describing a disenchantment with her adopted city of Los Angeles, she longs for home in a singular refrain “No roses… no roses for us.” An ode to English folk singer Shirley Collins, a surprising yet innate influence throughout Clifford’s work. On Moral Damage, former Veronica Falls bandmate Marion Herbain joins Clifford on an anglo-french duet that feels instant and spontaneous, a cutting comment on emotional accountability. More than a vehicle for Roxanne Clifford’s songwriting prowess, Patience is holding our hand through the night, dancing with tears in our eyes, dizzy and spellbound.

Re-issue of legendary Minimal Electronic Vinyl compilation feat. Stephen Emmer, Van Kaye & Ignit, Nine Circles, Smalts, Cargo Cultus & Genetic Factor

This era defining, pop classic includes debut single ‘Small Town Boy’, a huge global hit, which continues to resonate with today’s LGBT+ generation and remains a dance-floor staple. To celebrate the 35-year anniversary of Bronski Beat’s forming, ‘The Age Of Consent’ has been remastered and expanded. Available on limited edition pink vinyl and deluxe CD/Digital with 20 bonus tracks including demos, remixes, BBC session and unheard material.

Factory Benelux presents a new deluxe 2xCD edition of Sparks In A Dark Room, the second studio album by Dutch electronic group Minny Pops, originally
released by Factory Benelux in May 1982.
Formed in Amsterdam in 1978 by vocalist Wally Van Middendorp, Minny Pops took their name from the primitive Korg drum machine which propelled their austere, post-punk rhythms and provocative live performances. An early association with Factory Records in Manchester saw the band work with producer Martin Hannett, share stages with Joy Division and New Order, and become the first Dutch band to record a BBC radio session for John Peel.
Sparks In A Dark Room is their second studio album, originally issued on Factory Benelux in May 1982. Self-produced by the group, the album was recorded without a guitarist and as a result sounded unusually polished and layered, its smooth sequencers and motorik rhythms often redolent of Moroder, Kraftwerk and Cabaret Voltaire. Bonus tracks include the non-album singles Time and Een Kus, as well as demo tracks and an EP by instrumental splinter project Smalts.
This new edition on FBN also adds a bonus disc featuring an entire live performance (13 tracks), recorded at Amsterdam Melkweg on 7 April 2012 on their 30th anniversary tour, with original members Wally Van Middendorp, Wim Dekker and Pieter Mulder joined by new guitarist Mark Ritsema.
Tracklist:

1. Mountain
2. A Feeling
3. Tracking
4. Crack
5. Vital
6. Blue Roses
7. Wong
8. Experience
9. Dream
10. Night Visit
11. Trance
12. Time
13. Lights
14. Een Kus
15. Son
16. Secret Story (demo)
17. Schitterende Ogen (demo)
18. Time (demo)
20. Werktitel #7
21. Werktitel #5
22. Werktitel #1
23. Werktitel #8

1. Kogel
2. Blue Roses
3. Tracking
4. Vital
5. Goddess
6. Dolphins Spurt
7. Wong
8. Night Visit
9. Secret Story
10. Time
11. Trance
12. Mental
13. Son

In the mid-1970s, a force of nature swept across the continental United States, cutting across all strata of race and class, rooting in our minds, our homes, our culture. It wasn’t The Exorcist, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, or even bell-bottoms, but instead a book called The Secret Life of Plants. The work of occultist/former OSS agent Peter Tompkins and former CIA agent/dowsing enthusiast Christopher Bird, the books shot up the bestseller charts and spread like kudzu across the landscape, becoming a phenomenon. Seemingly overnight, the indoor plant business was in full bloom and photosynthetic eukaryotes of every genus were hanging off walls, lording over bookshelves, and basking on sunny window ledges. The science behind Secret Life was specious: plants can hear our prayers, they’re lie detectors, they’re telepathic, able to predict natural disasters and receive signals from distant galaxies. But that didn’t stop millions from buying and nurturing their new plants.



Perhaps the craziest claim of the book was that plants also dug music. And whether you purchased a snake plant, asparagus fern, peace lily, or what have you from Mother Earth on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles (or bought a Simmons mattress from Sears), you also took home Plantasia, an album recorded especially for them. Subtitled “warm earth music for plants…and the people that love them,” it was full of bucolic, charming, stoner-friendly, decidedly unscientific tunes enacted on the new-fangled device called the Moog. Plants date back from the dawn of time, but apparently they loved the Moog, never mind that the synthesizer had been on the market for just a few years. Most of all, the plants loved the ditties made by composer Mort Garson.



Few characters in early electronic music can be both fearless pioneers and cheesy trend-chasers, but Garson embraced both extremes, and has been unheralded as a result. When one writer rhetorically asked: “How was Garson’s music so ubiquitous while the man remained so under the radar?” the answer was simple. Well before Brian Eno did it, Garson was making discreet music, both the man and his music as inconspicuous as a Chlorophytumcomosum. Julliard-educated and active as a session player in the post-war era, Garson wrote lounge hits, scored plush arrangements for Doris Day, and garlanded weeping countrypolitan strings around Glen Campbell’s “By the Time I Get to Phoenix.” He could render the Beatles and Simon & Garfunkel alike into easy listening and also dreamed up his own ditties. “An idear” as Garson himself would drawl it out. “I live with it, I walk it, I sing it.”



But as his daughter Day Darmet recalls: “When my dad found the synthesizer, he realized he didn’t want to do pop music anymore.” Garson encountered Robert Moog and his new device at the Audio Engineering Society’s West Coast convention in 1967 and immediately began tinkering with the device. With the Moog, those idears could be transformed. “He constantly had a song he was humming,” Darmet says. “At the table he was constantly tapping.” Which is to say that Mort pulled his melodies out of thin air, just like any household plant would.



The Plantae kingdom grew to its height by 1976, from DC Comics’ mossy superhero Swamp Thing to Stevie Wonder’s own herbal meditation, Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants. Nefarious manifestations of human-plant interaction also abounded, be it the grotesque pods in Invasion of the Body Snatchers or the pothead paranoia of the US Government spraying Mexican marijuana fields with the herbicide paraquat (which led to the rise in homegrown pot by the 1980s). And then there’s the warm, leafy embrace of Plantasia itself.



“My mom had a lot of plants,” Darmet says. “She didn’t believe in organized religion, she believed the earth was the best thing in the whole world. Whatever created us was incredible.” And she also knew when her husband had a good song, shouting from another room when she heard him humming a good idear. Novel as it might seem, Plantasia is simply full of good tunes.



Garson may have given the album away to new plant and bed owners, but a decade later a new generation could hear his music in another surreptitious way. Millions of kids bought The Legend of Zelda for their Nintendo Entertainment System back in 1986 and one distinct 8-bit tune bears more than a passing resemblance to album highlight “Concerto for Philodendron and Pothos.” Garson was never properly credited for it, but he nevertheless subliminally slipped into a new generations’ head, helping kids and plants alike grow.



Hearing Plantasia in the 21st century, it seems less an ode to our photosynthesizing friends by Garson and more an homage to his wife, the one with the green thumb that made everything flower around him. “My dad would be totally pleased to know that people are really interested in this music that had no popularity at the time,” Darmet says of Plantasia’snew renaissance. “He would be fascinated by the fact that people are finally understanding and appreciating this part of his musical career that he got no admiration for back then.” Garson seems to be everywhere again, even if he’s not really noticed, just like a houseplant.