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Artist : No Unauthorized
Label : Camisole Records
invasion / LP

No Unauthorized was a French band from Melun (south suburb of Paris) active between 1980 and early 90's. The band was omnipresent in the tape wave scene with almost 100 appearances on various labels like Bain Total, Insane Music , EE Tapes or V.I.S.A. Their music can be described as minimal synth-pop with smart silly French lyrics. Add an experimental Diy spirit and you have one of the most original French 80's band. Invasion is an 8 tracks tape album originally released in 1987 on Fraction Studio (home of Philippe Laurent and DZ Lectric) and is probably their most accomplished work. It captures all the personality and freedom of the group who had no taboo to ridicule any situation. Limited edition of 200 standard numbered copies with A4 insert. Splendid starting release for this new Camisole Rec. label ;)


nuit de noce


Artist : Essaie Pas
Label : Teenage Menopause Records
nuit de noce / LP

Essaie Pas (aka Marie Davidson & husband Pierre Guerineau) 1st LP 'Nuit De Noce' released through Teenage Menopause Records is a similar collage of dark synths, sequencers, bilingual spoken word, and minimalist structure, but with an addition of twangy guitar and a greater tendency toward pastiche. "Carcajou" establishes the pace with Esquivellian offbeat block hits and a YMO-worthy synth lead. 3 minutes into the song, the coarse bass line shrinks to a short pulse, and a menacing synth drone begins to wail; Marie's voice begins to flake off into fibers of delay; the bass mutates into a grinding burst. A gloomy void has opened in the midst of the loungey structure that they started out with. In a Belgian interview back in November, Pierre & Marie explained their name as a reference to Charles Bukowski's epitaph, 'Don't Try' describing how while it at 1st glance seems negative, but under scrutiny it reveals an encouraging meaning. "It means 'Do it!' 'Have no fear!'" The anecdote shows a fascination with the coinciding moments of optimism and gloom that manifest themselves inversely during the course of the album. The songs on 'Nuit De Noce' pull from a set of upbeat italo-disco and syrupy film score references to wring out an underlying sense of anxious tension and brooding melancholia. Essaie Pas tap into the sinister undercurrent of Giorgio Moroder's basslines. Even when Moroder's bass lines are smothered in guitar solo cheese and cloying synth timbres, they still retains a sense primal metaphysical dread and an uncanny valley quality to the synthetic timbre. For those of us who are coming around to Essaie Pas post Davidson familiarity, 'Nuit De Noce' is an absorbing counterpoint to her solo material; it's groovier, more disparate, but equally captivated by the paradoxical connection between dark fantasy and life affirmation. Limited to 50 0 copies !
perte d


Artist : Marie Davidson
Label : Weyrd Son Records
perte d'identité / LP

'Perte d'Identité' is the debut LP by composer, singer and poet Marie Davidson, one of the finest artists rising from the electronic dark-synth scene in Montreal. Her voice is a stark half-spoken monotone which will tell you stories from which you can't escape unchanged. With this release, she refines her storytelling with suffocating tales that are both intimate and melancholic. Meanwhile, her miraculously human electronic rhythms are as frantic and hypnotic as an intense stare. In her premier full length album, she invites you to take a look in the peephole, revealing a fascinating cinematic picture. What you will be shown are the parts of yourself which you're scared and ashamed of, but also the ones that reveal a haunting and glamorous sensuality. Not only will she spin you a tale, but her music will immerse your soul in images of sweet anxiety. "This album is about romance and a quest for meaning". 2nd pressing.
alice


Artist : Nine Circles
Label : No Label
alice / LP

No need to present this cult Dutch duo from the 80's (Lidia Fiala & Peter Van Garderen) still active nowadays.. This new album 'Alice' contains 12 songs, which were composed during the past 2 years, but the lyrics partly date back to the 70's & 80's. Some of these songs were already performed on stage, some will premiere on forthcoming concerts and some will never be played live. This is because all Nine Circles lyrics deal with things that happened in Lidia's life and songs like "Alice Don't Jump" are too emotional to be sung on stage. The song "The Shade Killed Her" is about Lidia's experience with some people in the music business who nearly managed to destroy her love for the music, but "This Is The Rose" tells that it turned good account and those people did not succeed. Per-Anders & Lidia are tuned with their feelings, so when Per-Anders sings "Haunted By The Past", he gets the same feelings as Lidia when she wrote the lyrics, because they fit also to his life. This is with many songs; being kindred spirits they are able to make music like it is coming from one soul.. Handnumbered cover with UV matt varnish print. Contains inlay with lyrics and photos, 1 poster, 1 sticker and 2 different postcards.. TIP !!!
austerton


Artist : Martial Canterel
Label : OnderStroom Records
austerton / LP

Much-needed re-issue of this privately released 2007 album. Martial Canterel's Sean McBride is the progenitor of American cold synth sounds of the 21st Century. He began under the moniker Moravagine before he started releasing limited edition cassettes and playing Brooklyn dives as Martial Canterel in 2002. Since then, McBride's bleak intellectual exercises in the dark and danceable have flooded North America and Europe through the frosty fairwaves paved by Pieter Schoolwerth's Wierd Records. With an inimitable minimal style merging bright, urgent melodies ornamented and punctuated by the noises of industry and McBride's sonorous, stern vocals, Martial Canterel's earlier releases (You Today, Refuge Underneath) have garnered both critical acclaim and a rapidly growing rabid fan base. Sean is also one half of the duo Xeno & Oaklander together with Miss Liz Wendel bo. The album 'Austerton' consists of some of his earliest work recorded in 2003. The 10 minimal synth songs on the LP are reminiscent of music by bands like Dark Day, Snowy Red, A Blaze Colour, League Of Nations. Through the collision of a uniquely humanistic means of production via live analogue synthcraft expertly paired with vocals and lyrics that reflect the pitfalls and pleasures of our age, Martial Canterel provides a visceral kick best felt on the dancefloor, amidst a flurry of flesh in motion. Limited edition of 1000 copies with double-sided insert !!
untitled


Artist : Frozen Ducks
Label : OnderStroom Records
untitled / LP

Frozen Ducks were the 2 brothers Hans & Lex Grauwen. The short-lived duo had Hans doing vocals, and Lex playing synths and doing the production of the tracks. The 9 electro / new wave songs sound a lot like the Tranquil Eyes 'Walks' album and this release can in many ways be seen as the accompanying release to the 'Walks' album. In fact: the Tranquil Eyes song "Television" started out as a Frozen Ducks track. The line-up of the bands is almost the same, the bass and the overall production is just as deep, rich and poignant; only this time the drum patterns are more apparent and the atmosphere is much darker with lyrics about a troubling childhood and a vague view on what the future will bring. During the mid-80's Hans & Lex recorded well over 50 tracks of early electro / new wave for Frozen Ducks, about 15 could be rescued and remastered. "Beginnings" and "Lost Freedom" were released on the legendary Dutch experimental compilations Contactdisc 4 and Contactdisc 5. Which included bands like X-Ray Pop, Twilight Ritual, Tranquil Eyes, Kapotte Muziek, De Fabriek. All other tracks on this album are previously unreleased and come from the vaults of Lex Grauwen. With much dedication and joy these tracks have been unearthed and compiled into this posthumous album. A true pleasure to listen to and a must for every minimal synth, new wave and lo-fi Italo disco fan. Limited edition of 500 copies with double-sided insert..
dance remotion


Artist : Company Of State
Label : OnderStroom Records
dance remotion / LP

Belgian new wave & Diy minimal synth duo that started out experimenting with a rhythm box and post-punk guitars in the vein of early Cabaret Voltaire. Rudolf Hecke explains the origin of the band: “By the end of the 70's we were both living in small towns near Leuven. I had been playing in bands since 1973 and was still living with my parents in Veltem-Beisem where the garage was my rehearsal-room. One day he showed up, he was looking for a songwriter, he'd be the singer. He rode a bike.” The group debuted in 1983 on their own label with an incredible 7" (Dark/Discipline - Dance Remotion/Here as I Am). Rudolf Hecke provided screeching guitarplay with different forms of feedback and distortion, Paul Taes expressed his mood through his singing and the rhythm box did what it had to do, it rumbled along. It made sense for COS to join the Anything But Records label run by Ludo Camberlin (A Blaze Colour), where they shared the roster with bands like Neon Judgement, Poésie Noire, Aimless Device, Men 2nd.. On stage they always delivered a spectacle to the public. “Well, we very much liked to mess up things. Most of the time there was blood, I broke my nose once and ended up at the hospital when I cut my left arm with a razor blade on stage. We had some medieval weapons we'd like to throw around while the strobo's were lit.” On this retrospective LP release the emphasis lies on the 1st few years of the band including their first 7" and demo recordings from that period. When the experiments were still rough, the spirit high and the results chaotic and surprisingly dynamic. Edition of 500 copies !
romance moderne II


Artist : Various
Label : Romance Moderne
romance moderne II / LP

Review to come..!
lies and logic


Artist : Asmodaeus
Label : Walhalla Records
lies and logic / LP

Walhalla's minimal synth treasure! Legendary and much sought after recordings dating from 1984/1985 of one of the members of the Belgian industrial noise collective OB Minimax. Previously only available on cassette and now remastered on 180gr quality vinyl limited to 500 copies! Simply Wonderful..
vide


Artist : Koban
Label : Weyrd Son Records
vide / 12"

Koban is a storm that has been gathering over the Pacific Northwest since 2011. After an ep and full length recording behind them, the Vancouver-based duo is striking out again with a new 6-song ep on Weyrd Son Records this time, gaining sound and fury in these brooding new tracks. Koban naturally and seamlessly genre bend, their punk roots buried deep under layers of melded synth, goth and post-punk. This creates a unique sound which is simultaneously full and sparse, atmospheric and uneasy. A drum machine creates a baseline over which moody interchanging vocals and blown-out guitar noise quickly and organically oscillates. Their lyrics give a wink and nod to their influences and feature songs sung in French for an icy touch. Koban leave you with a feeling of being utterly new and a sense of déjà vu. Limited to 300 hand-numbered copies on 140gr black splatter vinyl.!
obsession / viper smile

Artist : Luminance
Label : Weyrd Son Records
obsession / viper smile / 7"

After two ep's that have set the already so recognizable multiple dimensions of one-man band project Luminance, this very special release presents a 2 tracks selection that illustrates and resumes perfectly the richness of Luminance's variegated range of colours and textures. While side A's "Obsession" has this super dancy and pulsating but somber vibe, perfectly accompanied by Nathalie Bruno's (ex-Phosphor) voice and lyrics, "Viper Smile" is giving side B a intimate walk in the limbs of what David-Alexandre can do best, where cold/dark/synthwave remarkably collide. Limited to 200 hand-numbered copies on black vinyl..
varla


Artist : Black Narcissus
Label : WeMe Records
varla / 2x12"

Released on Belgium based label WéMè, this new 2xLP from electro moniker Black Narcissus, otherwise known to Rephlex appreciators as Jodey Kendrick. This is a follow up on his promise a year ago laid out in mini album Black Narcissus X of going heavier and darker in on his beats compared to the electrofunk skewed output that came from the Jodey Kendrick named releases on Rephlex. 'Varla' is by no means an easily listening experience in a very good way, it's full of raw metallic tinged machinic power that you love Underground Resistance for. Without compromise. Brut, Faster, Sexy and with Drexciya influences. Will leave every one KO !!!
another portal


Artist : The Valley & The Mountain
Label : WeMe Records
another portal / 12"

A 2nd outing on Belgium's WeMe Records for the mysterious Valley and The Mountain project. Mystery is no barrier to quality though, as these 6 tracks offer variations on a simple theme of technological experimentation. Serenely beautiful techno abounds, particularly on "Bleed" a simple 4 bar riff being fed through simple modulations and permutations throughout the track's duration. "Echoes" is more staid, yet no less affective. "Post-American Music", with its looped vocal samples and syncopated kicks, dallies around the political without sacrificing groove, while "Time" is the most frenetic here, gurgling vocals and noodling solos meeting multi-octave repetitions. As if Marvin Gaye & Tangerine Dream together in an elevator in Detroit !
the second benefit


Artist : Bene Gesserit
Label : EE Tapes
the second benefit / 7"

'BeNeFiT' ep for Belgium's no.1 synth-pop duo BeNe GeSSeRiT, cult! BeNe GeSSeRiT are the husband and wife duo of Alain Neffe & Nadine Bal (Insane Music). Born in 1981 but still active, it's high time to renew their recording equipment! All proceeds will go to the band enabling them to continue their musical adventures. Limited 7" ep with 1 'new' side (3 unpublished tracks) and 1 'old' side (3 rare 80's K7 gems, 1st time on vinyl). Also including 1 original BeNe GeSSeRiT drawing with official InSaNE stamp, each one different+ 1 BG photograph (9 versions). Thanks for supporting ;)
radionome


Artist : Various
Label : Blowpipe
radionome / LP

Valuable re-issue with some classic early synth-pop, minimal electronix taken from VPRO radio sessions in the early 80's (original album was released by VPRO in 1982). 'RadioNome' sounds as amazing today as when it was 1st pressed. With the Madonna of neo-liberalism being laid to rest, the social and political discord created by Thatcherism coursed through Europe in the 80's. Electronic musicians engaged in the global shifts of some 30 years ago. These artists used synthesis to create a binary poetry, employed a circuit-board canvas to paint their discontent and analogue machines to voice their feelings. 'RadioNome' was, and is, a sound of the future, a sound of revolt and a sound of passionate expression. Limited re-issue of 300 copies on the Dutch Blowpipe label.
kassettentäter vol.9


Artist : Various
Label : No Label
kassettentäter vol.9 / LP

'Kassettentäter' (cassette offender) is a compilation of rare and mostly forgotten records from the early 80's. It's a tribute to the German cassette underground scene. Latest in this series of super-obscure synth/primitive NDW/experimental artists, mostly only previously "available" on cassettes. Ultra limited edition of 100 copies, with liner notes.. Grab it while you can !