Electric Avantgarde: Lonely 12”

Hailing from the college town of Freiberg in Germany, where I obtained this 12” while travelling earlier this year, Electric Avantgarde was a duo who made amateur yet enjoyable synthpop. If the band is remembered at all, it is for a tape they released on the long-enduring Danse Macabre Records  in 1990. This 12” predates that tape by a few years, and has two mixes of a song called “Lonely”.

While the band’s later material (at least the songs that I have heard) are more guitar-oriented goth rock, “Lonely” is completely enjoyable – albeit unabashedly cheesy -- electro-pop/Euro dance. Think Mysterious Art or Dead or Alive or Secession and you’re halfway there. The group was led by a guy who mysteriously (or pretentiously) went by the name Mozart. He sings in a weird combination of a girlish falsetto and a forceful masculine style.

The B side is just a dub mix of the A-side, because every band apparently had to have a dub mix back in the 80s. It’s not as good as the original mix. This song may not be for everyone , but those of us who have a soft spot for the occasional unironic dance track will enjoy it!

Electric Avantgarde: Lonely 12”

1988, self-released

Listen here!

Spiff: Music At Last!

We cannot always judge a book by its cover, nor an album on its artwork. I know this from experience, as all record collectors surely do. I’ve purchased countless cheap records completely unheard, based upon their promising cover art, only to cringe when my needle hit the wax and the hideous sounds of Air Supply-esque wuss-wave spewed from the speakers. Conversely, sometimes an uninspired cover can actually hide a surprisingly excellent record. This record by Spiff is a perfect example. Although its simplistic cover looks like it may have come from a mid-80s AOR pop band from Iowa that recorded an album of soft rock jams with lyrics about how much they want to rip off your teal jumpsuit and muss up your feathered hair as they rock your body (gently, of course… they’re soft rockers, after all), in reality the record is a completely unknown, Southern Californian one-man synthpop extravaganza.

While the prospect of late-80s synthpop leaves a very sour taste in most of our mouths, let me assure you that this guy was the genuine article. It sounds as if he worshipped in the church of Vince Clarke and Paul Humphreys. While other kids in his school band were learning to play Stars and Stripes Forever, he was trying to convince the music teacher that the composition sorely lacked a Jupiter 8 solo. And while other kids recited the US Pledge of Allegiance every morning at school, he probably sang Just Can’t Get Enough.

Truly, there is not a dud on this album. The only criticism I really have is that it is not a very dynamic record – most songs are about the same BPM and sound vaguely similar to one another, and the same drum fill is used on almost every song. Of course, given the choice between listening to a slightly redundant late-80s record heavily influenced by Speak and Spell, or a third-rate Quiet Riot clone singing their last remaining brain cells out, I certainly prefer the former. And there are songs that stand out from the rest here – Phon is eminently danceable, with silly lyrics and samples of telephones ringing. Follow Me has an absolutely killer bassline and is prefect for any synthpop dance club (especially since most of the lyrics simply say “get up, get up, get up and dance”).

The more I listen to this record, the more I appreciate the mysterious Spiff's completely earnest take on a style of music that was certainly passé when he released it. He was 10 years too late to enjoy any sort of renown with this record, and at least 10 years too early to take advantage of any sort of early-synthpop resurgence. In a way, I suppose he was one of the very first people to revive this style of electro-pop, albeit at the worst time possible (commercially, at least). At the beginning of “Clauge”, he declares “In the late 70s, no-one understood… there was a new age dawning. And this is what it sounded like” just before a barrage of (kind of cheesy) analog-sounding electronics smacks your ears. With this statement, you know that Spiff is trying desperately to recapture the sound of a bygone era. And I’ll be damned if he doesn’t succeed wonderfully.

Spiff: Music at Last EP

1989, self-released

Spiff is on the way to re-releasing his music digitally! Check out this page for more info. 

Ssleeping desiresS – Home Demos - July / Aug 2010 CD-r

...And now for something much more recent! The first time I saw San Francisco-based Ssleeping Desiress, they opened up for Sixteens at a small bar in the Mission District about 3 years ago. I had listened to a couple of their songs on their myspace page prior to attending, and my interest was piqued. There were no other bands doing such a straight-ahead synth sound in San Francisco at the time.

The band took the stage - two guys I had never seen before in the often insular city - and with a couple synths, a drum machine, and a live snare drum they barreled through a 20-minute set of vintage-sounding darkwave. The duo would alternate between synths, vocal, and drum duties; the live drum fills added a bit of a visceral and organic dimension to the barrage of electronics. They sounded spot-on.

While the band has gone through a few lineup changes since that time, Ssleeping Desiress has essentially remained the brainchild of Gabriel Ramos, who is now the sole member. This CD (limited to a scant 25 copies) is the only physical legacy of their earlier lineups, released in 2010 when Ramos was joined by Mona Martinez on vocals and percussion. The male and female vocals with gritty electronics recalls bands like Ronin, early Xeno and Oaklander, and even Nine Circles.

For a demo CD, the release is quite strong. While several tracks indeed have a bit of a rough "demo" quality, most of the them, including Tunnel, Passage, This Age, and Sleepwave (which I shared on the first Commercial Music compilation) are excellent.

The band has a few songs on various compilations - most notably the second Circuit D'Actes compilation . They also will have the fourth release on the excellent Flexiwave label in the coming months. Most of the songs on this disc are no longer part of the band's repertoire, but Ramos was happy to let me share them. Ssleeping Desiress is certainly a gem in the electronic underground, and it's great to hear these early sketches that run along the boundaries between minimal synth, coldwave, and electro.

Ssleeping Desiress: Home Demos - July / Aug 2010 CD-r

2010, Self-released

1 Tunnel

2 Crown Of Flames

3 Bird's Eye View

4 Sleepwave

5 Entrance

6 Passage

7 This Age

8 Rose Hill

Click here to listen!

Julie Jumper: Rhythm Radar 7"

Here is a 7” from 1982 that’s ostensibly a one-woman vanity project by a Richmond, VA based girl named Julie Jumper. I think the best way to describe it is “outsider electro”. On the A side, Rhythm Radar, she sings in a super-poppy 60s girl-group style over gurgling, pulsating, screeching, and beeping electronics. It’s endearingly amateur, and also quite subversive in its earworm-like catchiness, especially as she exclaims “no-one wants to vegetate so GYRATE! GYRATE!”. If you’ve ever wanted to hear, I don’t know... Liaisons Dangereuses fronted by Cyndi Lauper, this is probably the closest you’re ever going to get.

The B side, Male Rites, is a decidedly feminist argument for stronger male roles in sex and reproductive responsibility. If I heard this on the radio or on a podcast, I would just assume it was a Le Tigre or Chicks on Speed song from about 10 years ago. The song is certainly a bit snotty (in a punk sort of way) and quite clever in its adamant political stance. It alternates between noodling electronics and full-on synthpop when the intermittent rhythm machine kicks in. My copy has a weird “haze” sort of defect on it that causes crackling on the B side. I cleaned it up a bit, but it’s still present, mainly at the beginning.

After she released this 7”, Julie went on to form a similar group called O.Boy with two other girls (two rhythm boxes, a synth, and vocals), who are still quite legendary in the local Richmond scene. While they recorded some tracks together, I don’t know if they ever actually released anything. I'd be interested if anyone has any info or songs from them, though.

Julie Jumper: Rhythm Radar 7”

1982, Restless Records

A: Rhythm Radar

B: Male Rites

Click here to listen!

Great City: Great City LP

On many occasions, I am drawn to buy a record based on the cover alone, and this LP by a band called Great City is a perfect example of that. The cover art immediately drew me in with its ridiculous avant garde design that could ONLY have come from the 80s. The photo of the two band members pushed to the graininess of a pencil drawing; the photo credit on the front cover in case you were wondering who took it (it was "Ava"); the addition of seemingly random cubes and spheres; the inexplicable telephone cord coil in one corner; the band name written twice on the cover for some

strange reason... It was almost too much. The credits did not provide any info about the instruments used so I coudn't really glean what it would sound like, but judging by the cover it had to be some variation of new wave.

In actuality, the record is an odd beast: very simplistic and repetitive drum programs, strong electronic rhythmic backbones, stabs of synthesizers, oddly questionable and funky bass playing, cheesy synth horns a la With

Sympathy-era Minstry, and artfully off-key female vocals. On my favorite songs (the last two tracks of each side) musically sound sort of like the bastard child of SSQ and Ludus, with a little bit of lite gothic flourishes thrown in (and the final song, I Remember, sounds quite similar to the gothic Hi-I LP I uploaded a while back).

The band was from Los Angeles - which I assume is the "Great City" in question, which actually kind of negates any credibility they may have (sorry, LA friends). They released a CD a few years after this but always remained pretty much unknown. Except for a lone discogs entry, there is absolutely no mention of this release anywhere online. It just goes to show that no matter how many 80s gems have been uncovered, there is still a plethora waiting to be unearthed by the patient collector.

Great City: Great City LP

1986, Impressive Records

A1 A Dollar, A Ruble

A2 Impressive

A3 Too Much Thunder

A4 Talk Before

B1 Tell Me I'm Yours

B2 Night Flight To Tangiers

B3 Never Land

B4 I Remember

Click here to listen!

Various Artists: Hit the Floor LP

By request, here is the rare US compilation LP called Hit the Floor. This record was released back in 1984 on the Gender Records label, and contains eight tracks by four bands, all very much in the new wave/synthpop genre.

Alpha Bettys is the least synth-based of the bands; both songs combine female vocals with guitars or horns in a fashion that's a bit similar to Essential Logic. Their material is the least interesting to me on this LP, but the songs aren't bad at all, just not outstanding. Minks is a bubbly female-fronted synthetic pop band. Their sound is very minimalist but still unapologetically pop, but their songs (especially Surprised) are incredibly endearing.

Boys Say Go released a highly sought-after DIY 7" and a 12" in addition to their two songs here. Their two songs are well-produced, full-frontal synthpop. Their sound is commercial but still underground (if only because they're pretty much unknown), and the song "Do You Wanna Funk" demands repeated listens despite the obligatory cheesy guitar solo toward the end.

Of course, the real star here is Doppler Effect, who later released a 12" before evolving into the industrial dance band Workforce. There is absolutely no doubt that minimal synth and electro fans will go nuts over both of their songs here. Prisoner is a fast-based analog killer, with the electronics pushed to overdrive - wonderful danceable drum programs, gurgling synth lines and throbbing electronic basslines combine with the back-and-forth vocals to make a true electro-pop classic. By the time the end of the song comes up and all the elements mesh together, you wish the song would keep going for another couple minutes. The second song, Time Is Running Out, is complete synthpunk. It's bouncy and snarling and silly and has some of the greatest spastic punk-ish synth lines this side of a Units song.

So, this LP is completely recommended, in case you didn't catch that from the above description. Do yourself a favor and download this and lose yourself in new wave nostalgia.

V/A Hit the Floor LP

1984, Gender Records

A1 Minks - Dangerous

A2 Alpha Bettys - Symbol Of Love

A3 Doppler Effect - Prisoner

A4 Boys Say Go - Serious Cat

B1 Boys Say Go - Do You Wanna Funk?

B2 Alpha Bettys - Stare In Style

B3 Minks - Surprised

B4 Doppler Effect - Time Is Running Out

Click here to listen to this record!

Various Artists: Commercial Music

I've noticed that several blogs - most notably Systems of romance and Crispy Nuggets - have showcased homemade compilations of obscure and random tracks, and I thought "Wow, I should get in on that!". So, consider this post my getting in on it. This compilation features a huge array of songs ripped from records and CDs of mine. Most of them are from singles, compilations, and private releases on which there was one really good song amidst a bunch of less-interesting tracks.

I figure a quick breakdown of the songs is a good idea:

First up is a song called "Tuesday's Eyes" by a band called The Company. This was featured on an obscure UK compilation that I posted a couple years ago, but was taken down with no explanation. The song is a pretty great dancely electro-pop track. The song "Perfect Leader" by the late Gregory Jones (whose other projects I have previously posted) is a great semi-experimental synthpop song from an album of experimental electronic soundscapes). Next is an atmospheric darkwave song by the original "Christian goth band" Idle Lovell, which is fortunately not overly preachy.

The song by Native Alien is from a 7" that was self-released in 1986, and has a well-produced and very catchy new wave sound that sounds a bit inspired by bands like Flock of Seagulls. Maybe it's a tad pompous at times, but it's a good track. From a 7" on the Himalaya Records label is a song by Where is China?. They have a 7" and an LP, but the song "Mean Words" is probably the only song from them that I really like. The next track, by New Johnny Five, is the first song from their sole album - the rest of the album is standard college rock/AOR fare, but "The Reasoning" is a total synthpop hit that's completely different from anything else on the record.

San Francisco is represented by the unknown and unapologetically poppy synth gem "Watch Me Dance Alone" by a band called Shadow Show. It comes from a self-released 12" that also inexplicably contains a synthpop cover of the Gilligans Islandm theme. Taking things even further into the poppy realm is the ultra lo-fi new wave/synthpop pearl by Teai Benet, 2 O'Clock Love. Teai Benet was a scenester in the Houston punk/new wave scene and self-released this truly enjoyable song on a 7" in 1983. It's cutesy without being precious, and the refrain really digs itself into your brain.

Minimal synth fans will like the song "I'd Rather Not" by Mark, James, and Julie. This is from a 7" from 1981. The five-song 7" that this song can be found on has four straightforward and unspectacular piano and lounge songs, but this song is completely different - it's pure electronics and percussion with sung/spoken male and female vocals. Continuing the minimal synth sound is a song off the only record by Your New Friends, a self-released 12" from 1986. This song is chock-full of lo-fi toy drum machines, warm electronics, and reverbed vocals that sound like they were recorded in a coffee tin. It's an odd track with questionable singing and almost emo-ish lyrics, but I find it very enjoyable, and it appears on eBay every few months for those interested.

Next up is a completely obscure song from a band called Velvascurge. Pure electronics, great vocals, with a sound (at least during the verses) that is occasionally similar to Rational Youth. Next is a song from the (apparently) extremely sought-after 12" by Charlie's Brother, called The Wishing Tree (Megatree Mix). Imagine Robert Smith fronting a first-wave Jamaican ska band covering an ABC song. Yep.

The song by Reverse Heck is a great darkwave song with tape loops and synths and cellos that's on a 1985 compilation called Life Out There. That comp primarily features what I could only describe as Tex-Mex-Polka music. The compilation remains unknown because nobody in their right mind would even bother to listen to that very, very, very niche genre. After that is a song by Jim Whiting, a punk rock kid from the east coast who self-released a four-song 7" in 1983. The record had three quite-good lo-fi powerpop/punk songs - and also "I Fall Around", a completely over-the-top killer gem of pure heavy old-school electro, which is the one I included (obviously)

A more recent song by another San Francisco band, Ssleeping Desiress, is next, from a 2010 demo cd-r. The rest of that CD is also excellent, but I wanted to narrow it down to one song to include on this collection. After undergoing a few incarnations as a duo with live drummers, Ssleeping Desiress is now essentially a one-man band with electronics, detached vocals, and an old-school reel-to-reel. I played this song the first time I DJd the "Wierd" party in NYC and the people on the dancefloor loved it. It reminds me of an old French coldwave song. Following that is a song from a 1986 compilation called The Mad Scene that was put together by Butch Vig. The comp mainly has standard guitar-based 80s indie/college rock fare (the kind that Vig was known for producing before the 90s). But the song by The D'a'ns is pure electronics. It has lots of samples and dirty synth basslines and super-ultra-completely cheesy singing and lyrics, and it sounds like The Short Wave Mystery doing a Detroit techno song. But I can not. Stop. Listening. To it.

Next - and going in a COMPLETELY different direction -is a more guitar-based song, "Counter Circular" by SF band IfThenWhy. It's a short song, a dark, almost gothic college-rock track with a bit of a proto-punk influence. After that is a song that mixes UK post punk, middle eastern themes, darkwave, and synth music to surprisingly excellent effect. "Life in Riyadh" by Riyadh is from the same compilation as the Company song that starts out this compilation.

Next up is a hazy gothic shoegaze masterpiece by And Tears Fell, a band who released a CD or two on the Epithet Records label I have a feeling that this song will prompt a lot of people to seek out their material, which is highly recommended. You can download a lot of their songs from their iLike page here.

Closing out the comp is an epic song from a Swedish band called Pojken Med Grodan I Pannan. For the most part their sole EP wasa mix of prog rock and alt-rock, but this song mixes simplistic drum machines, synths, and vocals that border on choral chanting. Despite some questionable bass meandering in the middle of the song (ugh), it's a pretty good track to end with.

But wait! There's more! A super-secret bonus track by a band called Headthrob! A song about being hung over! From a one-song single that was literally packaged in a barf bag! A song with the line "I think I'm th-, I think I'm th-, I think I'm th-throwing up"!

Please don't hate me for including this song. If you burn the comp to a CD, you'll have to delete this song to make it fit. That was all part of the plan...

Various Artists: Commercial Music

ANDROID: In Tune With Tomorrow LP

Do you remember those 50s movies that took place in the future, with pod cars, cylindrical buildings, and jet packs everywhere? In retrospect, those films seem quaint and silly, but at the time I'm sure their directors thought they were visionary. Well, Android is the muscial equivalent of that sci-fi glimpse of the not-too-distant future. With shaved heads, surrounded by synthesizers and knobs and keys and pads, with vocoders galore, this band looks and sounds like they want to be Kraftwerk circa 2125. There are songs about the future, songs about space, and even songs about the comfort that a synthesizer provides.
The record was pressed on clear blue vinyl, with a blue silkscreened poster insert and blue, white, and silver artwork. the entire presentation is an amazing and beautifully made homage to a stripped-down, monochromatic, otherworldly, robotic future. They self-released this in 1982 on their Alternative Music Productions label.
Judging by the photos on the back and on the insert, it appears that they set up a custom-made room somewhere (Los Angeles, presumably) to play their shows. I also wager to guess that this record was only sold at those shows. Of course, I could be wrong, and would love to hear from anyone in the bend or who saw the band!
The music, of course, is key on any blog dedicateed to old obscure records. Yes, it gets cheesy. VERY cheesy, in a lo-fi vocodered Tangerine Dream-meets coldwave sort of style that has not aged particularly well. But when the band gets it right, they create some beautiful 100% synthetic masterpieces, such as the beautiful, dreamlike My Love Is Like a Shooting Star, the tinny electro of Standing in the Line of Fire, or the cold futurist bliss of my personal favorite, Perpetual Motion. I uploaded this many years ago to a new wave bulletin board and it still seems to be completely unknown... Hopefully this post will rectify that.

Click here to download this record!

Android: In Tune With Tomorrow LP
1982, AMP Records
A1 Luminary
A2 Images
A3 Sometimes My Love is Like a Shooting Star
A4 Standing in the Line of Fire
A5 ThemeSong
B1 Ahead of Your Time
B2 Listen to the Sky
B3 Perpetual motion
B4 exerpt from Tentative Conclusion
B5 ElectroSynphonia

I SHOOK HANDS: Someday I'll Be Gone 12"

Okay, shameless plug: I have a bunch of records currently on eBay (and will be listing hundreds more for the next couple months), including this one. And that's probably the last time I'll mention that. But I know that people will probably want to hear this. This is a self-released, self-produced, one-man band called I Shook Hands (a sticker on the back credits "Manny" as the sole member of the group, and gives his phone number). There is no year of release, although I'd guess it's some time around 1986-1988 or so. The music is similar to mid-80s Depeche Mode, Information Society, Experimental Products, Red Flag, et al. It's pure danceable elctro bliss, especially on the track "That's Just the Way", which has a repetitive but killer synth line. The singer's vocals are oddly lispy, and the lyrics are a little silly (he rhymes "day" with "day" three lines in a row), but who cares when the music is so damn catchy and good?

Click here to download this record!
I Shook Hands: Someday I'll Be Gone 12"
198?, ISH Records
A: Someday I'll Be Gone
B: That's Just the Way

KONGRESS: Tough Guys Don't Dance 7"

Before she found minor fame in the new wave disco-punk group Marilyn and the Movie Stars, the singularly-named Marilyn fronted the gothic/experimental/disco new wave band Kongress. She was only in the band for a little while, but long enough to sing on their sole record, this self-released 7" from the late 70s (no year is given). Normally I like to write my own spin on the records I blog about, but there is a wonderful, descriptive bio about the band here that I can not improve upon. I've pasted the bulk of it below:

The infamous alternative, gothic, experimental band Kongress emerged in 1975, and has consisted of many members over the years, including, Geoffrey Crozier who conjured up spirits, Von Lmo, Master of Reverse Trapology, Robert Crash/Renate Twin Towers of Teutonic Guitar Power, Frank Stokes stabilizing the Bass Bottom and Master of the Unheard of, Otto von Ruggins, Saving the Musick World with his Keyboard Wizardry! Kongress' influences include the likes of The Pretty Things, The Who, Kraut rockers Amon Duul II & Can, and The Zombies and their music sounds like eerie bizarre Goth electronica music out of a basement. Kongress are featured in 'No Wave: Post-Punk. Underground. New York. 1976-1980' by Thurston Moore and Byron Coley and are also working on the release of a DVD of the epitome of a Halloween Show - Max's Kansas City, NYC -1976 (taped by Bob Gruen) and 1977 (taped by Rod Swenson). For more information on the DVD: http://www.dangerousminds.net/index.php/site/comments/kongressional

Over the years Kongress has produced some amazing, magical music with songs like Oliver Twist, Sam Son, Eyes of the Witness, Frozen Head, Bebop Dada Debutante, Cybercrazed, Magick, Backwards Dog with Aristedes DuVal, two songs recorded with Sky Saxon, Wink of an Eye and Space, and one of my favourites Tough Guys Don't Dance sang by Marilyn, who replaced Geoffrey in 1978. The song Tough Guys Don't Dance was inspired by the Norman Mailer novel by the same name, which he made into a movie. He was sent a copy of the 45, and wrote a note to Kongress questioning their right to use his title, to which the band responded, "titles cannot be copyrighted, check with the Library of Congress!" Kongress is a very talented and versatile band; they possess clever, amusing lyrics, electronica music, and experimental music combined with dark sorcery and magical influences. They are shrouded with mysterious occult ways of the bizarre and eerie strange coincidences. The story behind the song Sam Son is quite freakish.

"This was the summer of the Son of Sam and I had penned an account of the events to that point, titled "Sam Son." When we got in the studio and the engineer heard the title of the song, he commented that he had a black labradour retriever by the same name. Ironically, a few weeks later, after David Berkowitz was captured, it came out in the papers that he claimed to be receiving orders from his neighbor's dog, a black labradour retriever! I expressed the desire to take a picture of the dog sitting in Geof's electric chair for the record cover, but not only was the tape never released, later I was informed that Sam Son had died, having been run over by a priest!" - Recounted by Otto von Ruggins.

Kongress no doubt was a band that was way before their time; the world was not ready to embrace their talents in the mid 70's. Yet they pushed the boundaries of society. A band definitely worth looking at now. Let Kongress stimulate your imagination and refresh your dark little soul!

Kongress: Tough Guys Don't Dance 7"
197?, self-released
A: Tough Guys Don't Dance
B: Talk Talk


Click here to download this record!

Defuser: Music for a Comic Book Video LP

This is officially the weirdest album that I have uploaded. This is the virtually unknown self-released follow-up to Defuser's first 7", the classic World Suicide b/w Freeze Please. They were from Marin County, just across the Golden Gate Bridge from SF. A wonderfully-presented LP, this comes in a gatefold sleeve that is laid out as a comic book. Each panel of the comic represents one song on the album.

The entire album is a concept album about a one-off concert by a fictional band called Lyres & Theeves. Except it's not as simple as that. At all. I could say it's primarily industrial, but it goes from electro to spoken word to industrial to sax skronkery to minimal electronic to experimental noise to an advertisement the band made for a local business chosen at random from the white pages to traditional Finnish folk music to darkwave to industrial again. Extremely subversive, very dark, very silly, very irreverent, very political, very punk, very art-damaged, this concept album is unlike anything - ANYTHING! - that I have ever heard before.

Defuser: Music for a Comic Book Video - The Lyres & Theeves Concert LP

1985, Mutiny Records

A1 Charlie, Hector & Betty Arrive at the Concert

A2 Li'l Otis

A3 And Welcome to the Show

A4 Prefessor Zeus and the Barking Elephant

A5 Politically Correct

A6 Bouquet of Weeds

A7 Woman in Bondage

A8 Love Song For You, Darling

A9 The Mob Has Come to Life

A10 Free Advertisement

A11 Seven Judys

A12 Nonexistant Song (intermission)

B1 Steel Dick

B2 Screaming Mad

B3 Little Bird

B4 Sax Hell

B5 Destroy What You Don't Understand

B6 Ladies' Tea Party Jazz

B7 Just Want to Be Your Friend

B8 Pocket

B9 Covered in Vines

Click here to download this record!

Junk Fifty-Seven 12" EP

Desired by collectors of minimal synth and old-school electro alike, this unassuming and extremely obscure 12" from San Francisco-based Junk 57 is a strange record. It was self-released on DiscOrganization, and I can't imagine it was distributed too extensively. Despite its name, the A side, Return of the Itchmaster, is an excellent old-school electro song, with effected and subdued vocals, record scratching, and hard-hitting syncopated production. Side B starts off with a mediocre electro-rap song, but then takes a complete one-eighty with Heart Full of Soul - a stripped-down minimal electronic cover of the Yardbirds classic. It almost sounds like two completely different bands are on this record.

Junk Fifty-Seven: Selftitled EP

1984, DiscOrganization Records

A: Return of the Itchmaster

B1: Junk 57

B2: Heart Full of Soul

Click here to download this record!

TEMPER! TEMPER: The Switch 12"

This record here is a 12" from the UK, presumably self-released on the Sheer Bravadol label, by a band called Temper! Temper. This trio recorded this 12" and a 7" (of the same songs), and then disappeared. The record received some distribution by the Cartel, but it still remains a pretty obscure and unknown 12". Their blend of synthpop, goth, and new wave is infectious - The Switch could have been a huge club hit, similar to bands like New Order and Information Society, or a poppy version of Sisters of Mercy. There's a bit of cheese factor in the vocals and guitars (this was the late-80s, after all), but the songs handily escape the late-80s dreck by avoiding slick production and bad balladry. Body Blows is a particularly beautiful song, with simple guitars, warm lush synthesizers, and (depsite being called an instrumental) ethereal female vocals in the background. This is pretty sought-after these days, so I thought I would share it for all to hear!

Temper! Temper: The Switch 12"
1989, Sheer Bravadol Music

A1 The Switch (12")
A2 The Switch (7")
B1 Let's Switch
B2 Body Blows (Instrumental)

Click here to download this EP!

SING AS WE GO! (something old is new)

This week I have chosen to post two obscurities from the late 80s - that oft-neglected (for good reason!) mini-era of polished commercial pop, sax solos, hair metal, and AOR. But the records that I have here - from 1988 and 1989 - buck that trend quite well.
I am also going to start linking to old posts from other blogs that I am rediscovering, or that I think deserve another listen. I'm trying to focus on old posts from at least 2 years ago, which newcomers to the ever-expanding blogosphere can download and enjoy. First up is one of my all-time favorite compilations, Sing As We Go. Released in 1982 in the UK on the Little Sister Enterprises label (the same label that released the similar 1983 compilation Not Waving But Drowning) and receiving virtually no distribution outside Europe, this compilation is chock-full of minimal synth, post punk, new wave, and more. Particularly great is the Glass Actors song, an incredible early minimal electro song with KR-55 drum machine overload! In perfect DIY fashion, it comes with a thick xeroxed booklet (one page per band), with great graphics and artwork! This was uploaded on the Mutant Sounds blog almost three years ago. Enjoy!

THE SHORT WAVE MYSTERY demo tapes & unreleased tracks!

Well, I actually have nothing to download with this post, but I'm just pointing you in the direction of some of the best minimal electro ever made. The Short Wave Mystery, they of the $200 bootleg and $1000 12-inch, have a huge cache of nureleased tracks that you can listen to any time right here. I especially recommend "Without Cause". This sounds like the best Depeche Mode song never released. It is THAT good. Cross you fingers and look for a reissue on Dark Entries Records!

THE SHRIEK: Sex Sells EP

Here is a bit of an oddball record. It is the only release by Canadian electropunk band The Shriek, which was a duo consisting of Blair Petrie and Ben Gaylie, who later collaborated on a very underrated electropop/experimental album that you can find on Mutant Sounds. Before they delved into the realm of pure electronics, though, this duo made some very harsh, lo-fi, amateurish music as The Shriek... It starts out with the two most punk songs I have ever posted to this blog, All Fucked Up and Fuck Up. Judging by the names, you can guess how they sound, as well as their maturity level. But they are both great songs, and things get more artsy with "1980", a one-chord art punk spazout that sounds like Wire channeling NYC no wave. Side two is where the synths go into overtime, with "Lost Control", an amazing electro-punk song that reminds me of one of my all-time favorite bands, Lost Sounds. Kids is like a one-chord Wire song. The most bizarre song is Intermission, a sprawling electronic song that shifts from synths and vocoder to repetitive droney chanting from the point-of-view of aliens. And from the 2:35 point, you'd swear you were listening to a Transparent Illusion song (with loads of vocal effects, though). Overall, this is a very recommended record. I wasn't too impressed at first, but it slowly grew on me, especially side two. If there was ever a Canadian version of the Messthetics comps, this duo would be on it!

The Shriek: Sex Sells EP
1980, Rude Records
A1 - All Fucked Up
A2 - Fuck Up
A3 - 1980
B1 - Lost Control
B2 - Kids
B3 - Intermission

Click here to download this EP!

Pinkie Maclure - Unman LP & Bite The Hand that Feeds You 12"

This week I have decided to share two releases by the British chantreuse Pinkie Maclure. She has been continually releasing albums since 1985. Here are two of her very first releases: a 12" with David Harrow (who released a VERY highly recommended solo album) and her album "Unman". She combines the feminism and political lyrics of her Ink Records labelmate Anne Clark, with the gloom of Danielle Dax and the raw experimental instrumentation of Diamanda Galas or Mona Mur (among many others) and rolled them all into a ball of dark, melancholy darkwave that was distinct and unique. Her voice is a constant high point - powerful, gothic, ominous and even soulful. I really cannot give enough praise for this album and single. They are strong lyrically, musically, and atmospherically. She is still making music to this day (more in the electro realm, but still great; check out www.pinkiemaclure.com). She is definitely an artist who deserves much more wide recognition - download these records and see why!

Pinkie Maclure: Bite the Hand That Feeds You 12"
1985, Ink Records
A Bite the hand That Feeds You
B Don't You Go

Pinkie Maclure: Unman LP
1986, Ink Records
A1 Blue Chevrolet
A2 Subliminal Seduction
A3 Voice of the Silent Majority
B1 The Habit
B2 Different World
B3 Poem
B4 Red Tape

Download both of them here!

PERFECT VISION: Discography

Well, my earlier post of Perfect Vision's Tongues Out mLP caught the eye of the band, and the synth player & singer (and sleeve designer) of the band, Steve Xerri, gave me recordings of all of the rest of the band's output and asked me to share them. He also geve me a bit of info about each release:

First off is the band's debut EP, ...Our Broken Crown... It was released by Backs and recorded in various studios: Hamster Studios was
a friend's home-based set-up (and the track recorded there, Drive Me,
was the first one John Peel played). Hyperion Studios was owned
by hippie band The Enid, and Spaceward, where Laugh At
Breakage and This Hook were recorded, was the haunt of The Stranglers.


The demonstration tape was recorded mostly on 4-track (Portastudio) in rehearsal rooms, friends' bedroom studios, etc. All the material was laid down before the band released anything on vinyl through Backs. The artwork is from an inlay to the cassette. Repetition is a Bowie song, the rest the band wrote themselves. At one time the band would open their live set with the song Great Figure, its long taped intro, complete with clarinet, played in the dark before they went on stage - heady stuff! It was released on In Der Tat Records and originally distributed by Peeved. Special thanks go to Steve Hartwell, who ran Peeved and was very generous in letting the files be shared.

The Coincidence 12" was financed by Backs; they were all recorded at
Spaceward studios.

If you like the Tongues Out mLP I posted a while back (or, hell, even if you don't), download these here. This is a truly underrated band who played some of the best minimal synth, new wave, electro, and post punk songs of the early to mid 80s.

Perfect Vision:

...Our Broken Crown... EP
1984, Backs Records
A1 Laugh At Breakage
A2 Drive Me
B1 This Hook
B2 Swim To Me


Demonstration single-sided tape
1985, In Der Tat Tapes, originally distributed by Peeved
A1 Play Red
A2 Worksong
A3 This Hook
A4 Bite The Bullet
A5 Repetition
A6 Labour Like This
A7 On Edge
A8 Great Figure

Coincidence EP
1986, Backs Records
A1 Coincidence
A2 Dream Ship
B1 Crossing Borders

Download everything here!

THE LOCH NESS MONSTER: Industrial Poppies LP

I had no idea that ol' Nessie actually recorded an album, but here is proof that not only does he exist, but that he also knows how to use a synthesizer! Which is odd, since you would think that using an electric instrument in a lake would electrocute the poor monster.
Regardless of whether or not he was shocked when making this album, this 1985 record is a strange gem of electro-pop. In fact, it actually walks the line between electropop and industrial quite well. Perhaps this is early industrial dance? At times, it really reminds me of Gelatinous Citizen (whose sole album you can download from Mutant Sounds here.
It also has some sax, pianos, and an experimental bent on several tracks on side 2. I believe it's the work of one guy (or lake monster) from the UK; it was released on Hamster Records (cute!), with silkscreened covers, and no liner notes and minimal credits. So it's a bit mysterious, and definitely worth downloading.

The Loch Ness Monster: Industrial Poppies LP
1985, Hamster Records
A1 Cut Me Down to Size
A2 2D Sex
A3 Plastic Baby
A4 Renoir's Mother
A5 Mind the Gap
B1 Mobo
B2 Christmas Again
B3 Time Base Corrector
B4 Paint he Dado Red
B5 Nightmares

Click here to download this record!

RIP SCHREDDER'S TECHNO PRIMITIVISM 7"

If you like your synths pushed to the very brink of sounding like they are going to fall apart, here is a treat for you. A guy from Florida by the name of Rip Schredder's recorded this 7" called "Techno Primitivism" in extremely small quantities. He also had Milo from the punk band Gay Cowboys in Bondage do backup vocals. The name of this record doesn't lie: This is truly primitive. It's not exactly "techno" as we know it (I don't even think that term was really used in the manner it is today, anyway) - it's pure noisy analog synth banging, knob twiddling, tinny synth percussion, and angsty talk-singing. This record is so amateur it makes Transparent Illusion sound like a night at the opera...

Rip Schredder's Techno Primitivism 7"
198?, self-released
A: Gut Reagan
B: Information Nightmare

Click here to download this 7"!