The Art Of Waiting - La Caduta Del Simbolo (12'', 1986)

Another italian dark wave group, The Art of Waiting. They were formed by Fabrizio Testini (voce), Francesco Nitti (voice and guitar), Ubaldo Cillo (bass), Gabriele D'amato (piano and guitar), Giancarlo Verdoscia (drums) and Mimmo Grasso (percussions). They released only this ep, that is very close to the classical dark bands like Bauhaus and Virgin Prunes.

Tracklisting

A1 The Bride
A2 Qualude
B1 Bianche Mura
B2 In The Hidey Hole

Toast TD EP 852

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Party Wall - Nuovi Colori (12'', 1986)

Party Wall were an italian new wave group, coming from the north of Italy, Reggio Emilia, composed by Paolo Munarini (voice/lyrics/guitar), Roberto Branchetti (sax), Claudio Colli (bass) and Paolo Carattieri (drums). The 12'' were recorded and mixed in November 1986 at G.A.S. studios in Florence. In fact their sound is very close to the classical wave bands properly formed in this italian city, like Diaframma and (early) Litfiba. Again, enjoy it.


Tracklisting

A1 Indietro Con Te
B1 Nuovi Colori

DVMX 1000

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Richard Bone - Living in a Party Town (7'', 1984)

Richard Bone began his early musical career creating soundtracks and scores for several off-Broadway companies working in experimental theater. In 1979 he released the single "Pirate the Islands/Headlines Have It" before joining the band Shox Lumania in 1981. That same year Bone recorded a solo 7" called "Digital Days/Alien Girl" on his own that was picked up by Survival Records in the UK. While with Survival he released two LPs, four EPs, two 45s and composed several singles for various compilation albums. In 1983 his single "Joy of Radiation" reached #1 on the Hong Kong Dance Chart.

Tracklisting

A1 Living in a Party Town
B1 Men With Secretes

Disques Vogue 101976 / Survival Records

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Le Figure - Un Giorno, Un Altro (LP, 1983)

Le Figure is an obscure experimental italian group coming from the province of Ravenna and they self-produced in 1983 this lp on LM Records (the same label as Do-Po and Flo & Andrew, other italian rare minimal synth stuff). Their sound is a particoular mix, it could be a mirror of the historical period, between the 70's prog reminescenses ('Invito','Un'altra sigaretta') and improvisations ('Sbilenco') with jazzy taste ('Distraimi', 'Qualche Giorno') and the use of
(distorted) drum machines and synthesizers ('Oltre', 'Notturno'and 'Bambini'). They will remember to you the first period of Tomografia Assiale Computerizzata, Sigillum S and Ain Soph.

Tracklisting

A1 Invito
A2 Oltre
A3 Qualche Giorno
A4 Distraimi
A5 Notturno
B1 Bambini
B2 Sbilenco
B3 Radio Lamento
B4 Un'altra Sigaretta
B5 Ultimo Piano


EW 00001 New LM Records

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impLOG - Holland Tunnel Dive (12'', 1980)

impLOG were Don Christensen with help from Jody Harris. They were both in The Contortions and released just two records as impLOG - the 'Holland Tunnel Dive' 12" on Lust/Unlust (home of DNA, Teenage Jesus And The Jerks, Mars, Dark Day, Jeff And Jane Hudson) and a 7", 'Breakfast / She Creatures' on Log Records. Jody Harris is one of the unsung heroes of No Wave - a Contortion, an impLOGger, founder of the wonderful Raybeats and collaborator with New York legend Robert Quine on the super 'Escape' lp on the mighty Lust/Unlust label. Remarkably, Don Christensen reappeared under the impLOG moniker in late 2005 after a 25 year hiatus to do a remix for Philip Glass.

Tracklisting

A1 Holland Tunnel Dive
B1 On B'Way

Lust/Unlust Music JMB 231

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Ghoul - Russian Roulette/Sacrifice (7'', 1988)

Ghoul were Kits Hilaire (vocals), Mescalero (guitar), Achimou (bass/guitar), Phantom Lord (bass) and Jay Satellite (drums) and they played a late 80's gothic stuff. All songs written and composed by Ghoul, recorded at Vielklang Studio in Berlin, 1988. The 7'' was published for Überschall Records, defunct german label run by Michael Bultmann. Unfortunatly i have no other further informations about them.

Tracklisting

A1 Russian Roulette
B1 Sacrifice

Überschall Records US 8-02 Efa 01615

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Flue - Jerome (7'', 1981)

Flue was a band that were signed by the semi- legendary Torso label in Holland in the early 80's. Their music is a mixture of coldwave and guitar new wave with strong sober melodies and a dark feel. The bands consisted of four members: Edward (vocals, synthesizers), Judith (synthesizers), Jerome (bass) and Hans (drums). The producer of the group was no less than Dick Polak, lead singer for another legendary Dutch new wave band, Mecano. Flue released two albums in the 80's, "One And A Half" and "Vista", both were issued on vinyl only and are extremely hard to find nowadays.

Tracklisting

A1 Jerome
B1 Ugly People

Torso TORSO 458

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Kaa Antilope - Some Other Bivouacs In Some Other Wild Regions (7'', 1982)

Here's a great 7'' ep from Kaa Antilope, experimental/minimal synth group originary probably from Brussels, on Sandwich Records, home of Polyphonic Size and Pseudo Code.
The album was recorded in Brussels (june to december '81) and mixed at Pink House Studio. The side A (South side) plays at 45 rpm, otherwise the side B (North side) claims to be played at 33 ⅓ rpm, but actually also plays at 45 rpm.

Tracklisting

A1 Indonesian Triptich (Tribute To Walter Spiess)
A2 Back In India
A3 Gathering Flocks
B1 The Break Of Day

Sandwich Records SR18

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Sad Lovers and Giants - Lost in a Moment (7'', 1982)

Sad Lovers & Giants are from Watford, England and they formed in 1981. Their sound blends post-punk, folk and psychedelia and has seen them described as 'a pastoral Pink Floyd'.

The band's members have included Garçe (vocals), Tristan Garel-Funk (who went on to form The Snake Corps) (guitar), Tony McGuinness (now part of the trance trio Above & Beyond) (Guitar), Cliff Silver (bass), Ian Gibson (bass), David Wood (keyboards and saxophone), Juliet Sainsbury (keyboards) and Nigel Pollard (drums & percussion).

The original line up produced two albums, Epic Garden Music and Feeding the Flame, but split up in 1984 on the verge of commercial success. They returned in 1987 after a personnel change and released The Mirror Test, Headland and Treehouse Poetry before their label, Midnight Music, went bust in and the band split once again. E-mail From Eternity, a 'best of' compilation was released by Cherry Red in 1996 after picking up the Midnight catalogue from the receivers. The band rose from their frequently raked ashes to release a brand new album called Melting in the Fullness of Time in 2002 and played in Italy for the first time a year later.

Tracklisting

A1 Lost In A Moment
B1 The Tight Rope Touch

Midnight Music DING 1

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Camera 3 - Russians in Space (7", 1979)

Another hidden post punk pearl from London (UK)

1980 single on Service Records (SER 001) by band of Andy Johnson (brother of The The's Matt Johnson) aka Andy Dog. cover design also by Andy Dog.
Andy "Dog" Johnson is the older brother of The The's Matt Johnson. He is an artist best known for designing the record sleeves of The The in the 1980s and 1990s which were produced under the pseudonym of 'Andy Dog'. His work has a very distinctive style and often features tortured, grimacing figures coupled with dark, sad themes. He trained at Camberwell School of Art and contributed to many underground comics and magazines, also working for the music press. He was responsible for establishing the visual identity of the Some Bizzare record label. He currently lives and works as an artist in rural Suffolk, East England.

The 7" was produced by Simon Millward and Anton Loach while Mark Rowlatt played the drums. This session was also recorded in the Metabolist studio.

Aside from Mark Rowlatt on drums, Camera 3 consisted of:

Paul Miller - bass
Graham Weston - guitar
Andrew Johnson - vocals & keyboards

Tracklisting

A1 Russians In Space
B1 The Solution To All Problems

Service Records SER 001

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Moskow - Man From Uncle (7'', 1978)

Pre-Bolshoi post punk band (UK)

Before there was The Bolshoi, there was Moskow, a post-punk band based out of Trowbridge. There is little info available about the band, which only put out one single before breaking up. It was apparently managed by Allan Partner, who started TW records. The members included Trevor (who was going by Trevor Flynn -- using his mother's maiden name after his father left his family) and Jan. Whether they formed the band or not is really not known at this time. The single that was released was "Man From Uncle," which actually has been put out three times. Trevor is credited on bass, Jan on drums, and both probably contributed back-up vocals. Trevor is also listed as a co-writer of "Too Much Commotion."

One other mystery - on the initial 1978 SRS-2103 release, David Ashmore is credited with writing "Man From Uncle" and Ashcroft/David Cole are credited with "White Black." On the subsequent releases (on Rialto in 1979, then TW in 1982), Cole's name remains, but a Dave Luckhurst is credited alongside, then instead of, Ashmore. It's possible that David Ashmore and Luckhurst are the same person, just like Trevor Flynn amd Tanner are. But who knows at this point? Cole and Luckhurst went on to play with other small punk banks in the UK.

Tracklisting

A1 Man from Uncle
B1 White Black

SRS-2103

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Testcard F - Bandwagon Tango (7'', 1982)

Minimal synth from Norwich (UK)

Formed in 1981, Testcard F were at the leading edge of Techno Pop, building their own electronic percussion and happily ignoring all musical conventions. From a modest start with a demo on Radio Norfolk (yes it used to feature local bands) the Testies amassed a small and enthusiastic following.

Live performances were enjoyably shambolic and involved hitting litter bins, coat racks and other items salvaged from UEA to give a human feel to the proceedings. The drum machine was primitive, took hours to program and could hold one song only, hence they used backing tapes. These were a box of cassetes (from BB Adams) with one backing track per song, often containing just the drums. The idea was that the order of the set could be varied easily, but occasionally the wrong tape went in, with interesting results.

Usually the audience enjoyed the gigs, occasionally they didn't. There are some places you're stared at with malice from the moment you enter the room and this happened once or thrice to the band, usually with mutterings of "not a proper band - no guitars" etc. One gig at The Big Apple in Great Yarmouth was notable for the compere pulling the plug half way through and quipping "Thank you that was Testcard F - you won't be hearing them again". Shortly afterwards someone threw a bar stool across the bar, shattered the mirror and the police stormed the building. The band beat a hasty retreat as the venue descended into chaos. Interestingly the go-go dancers in the cages (classy) didn't seem at all surprised.

Testcard F supported OMD and SPK amongst others, but winning the Norwich heat of Battle of the Bands and a Peel session in 1984 were probably their finest hours. A couple of singles promised great things which sadly didn't come to pass.

Tracklisting

A1 Bandwagon Tango
B1 Unfamiliar Room

Backs Records NCH 004

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Baard - Life In A Goldfish Bowl (7'', 1982)

A cult-classic minimal synth killin 7'' from Sweden

Bard began his musical career in 1982 with the single "Life in a Goldfish Bowl" released under the name Baard, a synth-punk fusion project he had formed together with two female striptease dancers. He has since claimed that he spent the Baard years living as a male prostitute in Amsterdam. Bard later had some minor success as Barbie, which saw Bard in drag singing dance-oriented pop. After abandoning work on a second Barbie album, he formed Army Of Lovers with two of Barbie's entourage, Jean-Pierre Barda and La Camilla. Army Of Lovers had over 20 Pan-European hits, the biggest being "Crucified", "Obsession", and "Sexual Revolution", while their presence in the US and the UK was limited to repeated club chart successes. They released five studio albums, made over 20 music videos, and became phenomenally successful across Eastern Europe, before Bard disbanded the group in 1996. Army Of Lovers have later earned a widespread iconic status in the gay culture, often referred to as a perfect example of the postmodern take on the ideals of camp.

Following the demise of Army Of Lovers, Bard founded Vacuum, a symphonic synthpop project featuring Bard, Marina Schiptjenko (formerly of synthpop group Page), and newcomer Mattias Lindblom.

Tracklisting

A1 Life In A Goldfish Bowl
B1 Savior For The Nations

Apollo Records APS 016
Later re-released by Genetic Music with catalogue number GEN 012

Thanks to Jo Risk for the ripping!

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Leitmotiv - Silent Run / (Living In A) Tin (7'', 1984)

Post punkers from Sheffield (UK)

North of England goth band, with a four-man line-up consisting of Simon Asquith (vocals & guitar), Steve Shepley (keyboards), Dean Woodhead (bass) and Paul Asquith (drums). 'Silent Run' should be a post punk classic, otherwise '(Living in a) Tin' is more synth/wave oriented, and here is a version remixed from the mini album 'Caress And Curse'.

Tracklisting

A1 Silent Run
B1 (Living In A) Tin

Pax Records PAX 17

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Voice Farm - Double Garage / Elevate (7'', 1981)

Great minimal synth from San Francisco (USA)

Voice Farm was a San Francisco electronic music band formed in 1981. The history of Voice Farm can be traced back to the chance meeting of Charly Brown, an artist and musician from Portland and Myke Reilly, who served a three month prison sentence in Berlin for experimenting with pirate television there. The circle was complete when former baseball player Ken Weller was added. Regional alternative radio and club play was sparked by a pair of albums released by Ralph and Systematic Records. The group earned national attention in 1990 as the opening act on Depeche Mode's U.S. concert tour. The last release from the band was an independent release in 1995 called "The Love Experiment".

Tracklisting

A1 Double Garage
B1 Elevate


Optional / Systematic 5

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Arbeid Adelt! - De Dag Dat Het Zonlicht Niet Meer Scheen (7'', 1982)

Experimental minimal synth from Belgium

Arbeid Adelt! was formed in 1981 by Marcel Vanthilt (Max Alexander) and Jan Van Roelen (David Salamon). Together they produced the singles "Ik sta scherp" (which can be translated both as "I'm so sharp", or "I'm so horny"). Their first gig lasted only seven minutes as they had only 2 songs to perform : "Ik sta scherp" and "Schuld, mij treft geen ..." (Blame, I'm not to ...). Soon more songs were to follow.

"De dag dat het zonlicht ..." (the day the sunlight...) was performed on national television in the program "Hitring" and was a shock-surprise. There was a lot of fuzz about the single because crooner John Terra felt upset. Just at that time he had a hit called "De dag dat het zonlicht niet meer scheen" (The day the sunlight stopped shining). Although the number was far from a cover version, the poor man felt attacked by the line "dat was de dag, de dag dat John met mijn vriend verdween). Later on, the group was joined by Luc Van Acker with whom they recorded the mini-album "Jonge Helden" (Young heroes). Their amusing lunacy and their inventive clips made "Lekker Westers" (Nicely Western) and "De man die alles noteert" (The man who takes notes of everything) popular favorites. They split up after finishing their second mini-album "Le chagrin en Quatre-vingt". Only one year later, the group reformed without Luc Van Acker...

Tracklisting

A1 De Dag Dat Het Zonlicht Niet Meer Scheen
B1 Het Amusementsbedrijf


Parsley, Wereldrecords PP 018, 2

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Palais Schaumburg - Rote Lichter (7'' 1980)

Classical NDW on Zick Zack from Hamburg (Germany)

Palais Schaumburg was a new wave band from Hamburg, Germany. The style was classified as Neue Deutsche Welle, and strongly characterized by their avant garde music and dadaistic attitude.The band was originally formed in 1980, featuring Timo Blunck, Holger Hiller, Thomas Fehlmann and percussionist F. M. Einheit. The group's name stands for Das Palais Schaumburg in Bonn, the former residence of German chancellor. The first full length album Palais Schaumburg was produced by David Cunningham and released in 1981. Shortly after it was released, Hiller and Einheit left the band. Hiller started his solo career and Einheit joined Einstürzende Neubauten. They were replaced with Moritz von Oswald and vocalist Walther Thielsch. The group made several singles and albums throughout early 80's, where their avant garde sounds were heavily influenced by funk, especially in albums Lupa and Parlez-Vous Schaumburg. They eventually split up in 1984. All the members have been working on their solo careers.

Tracklisting

A1 Rote Lichter
B1 Mach Mich Glücklich Wie Nie


Zickzack ZZ 23

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