The Gallery: S/T LP

The Gallery were a Belgian band whose generic name has rendered them pretty much impossible to search for on the web. I don’t believe this has been shared or blogged about before, but who knows… I have found out that, quite confusingly, the band’s guitarist/keyboardist /producer Stephan Kraemer was in another unrelated band called Gallery in the early 80s. However, he is probably best known for his work as the guitarist/drummer of Zwischenfall. That group’s style of dark synthpop focused more on noisy but danceable electronics; The Gallery balance their synth use with more guitars. In this five-piece darkwave group, Kraemer worked with vocalist Iben Larssen and bassist Thomas Kuersten , both of whom worked with him on a few Zwischenfall songs (Iben Larssen provided the vocals to the 1984 English version of Flucht and Sandy Eyes), as well as contributing to tracks by Snowy Red and A Split Second. Keyboardist Nicolas Mansy later went to record with the short-lived alt/synth group Wasteland .
With such bona fides, the band has a lot to live up to and while the LP is a bit uneven at times, for the most part they do not disappoint. The vocals are usually haunting, with plenty of reverb and atmosphere. They suffer a bit on a few early songs when the band treads into more alt-rock territory replete with strained, yelled lyrics. Fortunately not too many songs take this stylistic deviation, and the best songs are reserved for the second side. The closing song, Nuthouse, is a midtempo track whose gloomy, beautiful chorus almost comes as a surprise. Crime Time is a full-force darkwave track that would sound perfect in any goth club set between Skeletal Family and The Veil. My favorite track on the album is the slow, stark “The Warning”, a vaguely Cocteau Twins affair which starts with sparse bass and drums before they’re followed up with cold synth chimes that sound like they’re channeling The Exorcist.

 The Gallery, S/T LP
1989, 150 BPM Records
 Divine
Bleed
Your Skin
 Better Days
Ballad of a Suburban Night
Fade Away
 The Warning
Crime Time
 Nuthouse

  Click here to listen!

Various Artists: 1994 LP

Well, it is the start of a new year, and what better time than now to come back and start sharing some music again? I have now relocated to New York, and finally have time to resume my blog. I have quite a few records that I ripped over the summer and fall, and although a few of them have been shared in the interim (which I may still post anyway, just to get the music out there to more peoples' ears) there may be a few unknown or underappreciated gems. Starting with this nice little compilation, simply titled "1994", released in 1984 on Etiquette Records in Belgium.

You can find songs by some more well-known bands like Linear Movement (who showcase a decidedly lo-fi synthpop song here) and Die Fabriek, as well as a whole array of unknown minimal synth, new wave, and post-punk bands.

While I like this comp quite a bit, there doesn't seem to be that one KILLER song that many of these private-press compilations have (ie, The Enter's song on the Youngblood compilation, the Curcuit 7 songs of Offering of Isca, the Life song on the Music Biz Showcase compilation, or the Glass Actors song on the Sing As We Go collection). Still, it's consistent in its decent quality, and has that amateurish and DIY aesthetic to it - both musically and graphically - that we all love so much.

PS, I just realized track 4 is mislabelled on the mp3, so you may want to change that...

Various Artists: 1994

1984, Etiquette Records

A1 Linear Movement - The Other Way Around

A2 Harbor City - Y En A Marre

A3 French Painter Dead - The Danger Form

A4 Pink Fungus - Entekaam

A5 Masai, The - Guys And Guys

B1 Day After - Political Games

B2 Low Class - The Alienation Ballade

B3 W - Movin' Up

B4 General Fears - Feel Love

B5 De Fabriek - Future Discover

Click here to download this record!

Fred A & Le Travo: Works 1 mLP

This record is actually sort of a request by my girlfriend, who is unfortunately several hundred miles away for another month. I told her that I found this LP over the past weekend, and I ripped it after she said she was very interested in hearing it. I normally don't mix my private life with my public blog, but I figured that since she can't possibly be the only one who will enjoy this excellent album, I would share it!
Without further delay, let me introduce this record - it is a pretty rare split mini-LP from two wonderful Belgian bands, Fred A and Le Travo. It was released in 1984 on the Himalaya label (the same label as the Noh Mask LP I posted earlier in the year), and is one of the more obscure releases on the label. Fred A is very dark minimal wave with synths, sparse drum machines, piano, and somber singing. It actually reminds me quite a bit of the Esquisses LP that Phoenix Hairpins shared several years back. Fred is better known as Fred Angst, one of the two core members of minimalist/postpunk/avant garde band Aroma Di Amore. As good as Fred A is, Le Travo are the stars here, though - they contribute some amazing synth-heavy coldwave songs similar to Weimar Gesang or Opera Multi Steel. This is one of the only two or three records they made an appearance on. This is highly recommended - download this one immediately (you have my permission even if you're NOT my girlfriend)!

Fred A & Le Travo: Works 1 mLP
1984, Himalaya Records
A1 Fred A - De Donkere Dans (4:16)
A2 Fred A - November (4:30)
A3 Fred A. - Blauw Blauw (4:00)
B1 Lè Travo - Caterwaul (4:57)
B2 Lè Travo - Glow Of Gnome (5:13)
B3 Lè Travo - Chiaroscuro (2:45)


Click here to download this record!

The Hail Mary: What's That Fire EP

The thing that grabbed me first when I found this album at a small record shop in Antwerp was the sticker on the front: "First Record Censured in Belgium". What caused it to be censured? Were all the songs promoting baby sacrifice? Listening to the album didn't really offer many clues - it's a solid four songs of excellent deathrock and dark post punk that's part Christian Death and part Bauhaus. So I ask all of you - do you know why the Hail Mary had the first record censured in Belgium? Is there even any credibility to this claim?

The Hail Mary: What's That Fire EP
198?, self-released
A1 What's That Fire?
A2 The Quiet Way to Paradise
B1 Into the Last Fight
B2 Violets

Click here to download the EP!

VARIOUS ARTISTS: Nuit Blanche LP + ASHES: Saturn is Black 7"

I suppose that most people are familiar with this excellent compilation, Nuit Blanche. The LP features groups likie Diseno Corbusier (whose debut EP Perfido Encanto I shared last year)., Design (who also had a track on the Topless Game comp and a 7" on Anna Logue Records... the track here has yet to be reissued), The Ashes (who also had a 7" on KPs Records, the label that released Topless Game and Nuit Blanche), and unknown bands like the excellent Paris-Brule-T-Il?. This is a highly sought-after and very recommended LP with loads of killer songs. Most of the songs are in the synthpop/minimal wave/post punk vein, although there is a suprisingly pleasant classical guitar instrumental to end the record.

Also shared here is the aforementioned Ashes "Saturn is Black" 7", about which I can find absolutely no mention on the internet. It was released in 1984 on KPs Records... does anybody know if this label released anything else?

Various Artists: Nuit Blanche LP
1984, KPs Records

A1 Design Sunset Boulevard
A2 Halloween (2) Tomorrow
A3 Ashes, The Delay
A4 Chrome 17 Etcetera
A5 Diseño Corbusier Chiquillo
B1 Faits Divers This Is A Romance
B2 Duty Free (2) Burning Passion
B3 Paris-Brule-T-Il? La Logeuse
B4 Croth Daily News
B5 Central Park (5) Anas De Lin

Click here to download the record!


Ashes: Saturn is Black 7"
1984, KPs Records

A1 Saturn is Black
B1 Run Away of Love

Click here to download the 7".

Noh Mask: Oriented LP & Gaijin 7"

Because you've always wanted to hear a Belgian synthpop band's homage to Japan, I present Noh Mask to you. This was  a duo of Michel Silverstein and Jo Lemaire, who was in Belgian bands like The Names and Digital Dance. While an electronic concept album about Japanese culture could go quite wrong, these guys were obiously pros, as this album somehow effortlessly mixes synthpop, minimal electronics, and even a bit of industrial together with quite distict vocals. Almost every song is a winner here - New Horizons is a killer electropop song with a driving beat and bassline, Twilight in Tokyo is a bit industrial and dark, and the B side to the Giajin 7", Change of Roles, is a synthpop gem. Get this one; you will be pleasantly surprised!

Noh Mask: Oriented LP & Gaijin 7"

1984, Himalaya Records

LP tracks:

A1 Call From The Orient (4:51)

A2 Gaijin (4:35)

A3 Dancing With My Shadow (3:40)

A4 Maiko Girl (6:08)

B1 Empire Of The Signs (4:17)

B2 Twilight In Tokyo (5:59)

B3 New Horizons (6:32)

B4 Blossoming Port

B5 Dreams Of Youth (0:33)

7" tracks:

A Gaijin

B Change Of Roles

Click here to download these records!