Archive for the minimal Category

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Denial- California Dreaming 7”

Posted in 1980s, 1982, australia, australian, denial, m squared, minimal, minimal synth, new wave, synth on January 23, 2013 by Frankie Teardrop

Ever since I picked up an instrument, I have wanted to record a cover of infamous 60s pop hit “California Dreaming” and expose it for the haunting dirge it really is… While I’m sure it’s not a stretch to envision a darker world painted in the Mamas and Papas hit from 1965, the idea always appealed to me.  However, looks like the job was done already, thanks to Australian synth band Denial, who issued a stark, brutal cover of the tune in 1982, backed with an excellent original rickety post-punk track…

This lone 7” was released on the infamous M Squared label, who were responsible for Xero and Scattered Order as well…  This is the only release under the name Denial, but they were previously known as Aural Indifference, who appear most prominently on The Minimal Wave Tapes vol. 2 compilation from 2012 as well as a compilation on M Squared.

Denial- California Dreaming 7”
1. California Dreaming
2. The Weathermen

*download link removed*

This 7” has been reissued as of May 2016 on A Colorful Sound. Copies can be purchased on their official site, or through Juno‘s mailorder!

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L.A.S.’s Crime- Five Lies & Electa K7s

Posted in 1980s, 1986, 1988, darkwave, electronic, italian, l.a.s.'s crime, minimal, minimal synth, post-punk on January 15, 2013 by Frankie Teardrop

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Two excellent tapes here from Italian project L.A.S.’s Crime, short for Lord Arthur Seville’s Crime, named after a classic Oscar Wilde novel. L.A.S.’s. Crime consisted of the duo of Sandro Marchetti and Maria Elena Brogi, who were very diverse and prolific over the course of five years.  The great Bx59cppw has shared several of their cassettes in the past, and Italian label Mannequin has reissued a compilation of material in 2012, featuring thirteen tracks from the band’s tenure, including a handful from these two tapes.   More people seem to know this band than ever before, so why not share a few more pieces of the band’s discography!

fivelies

L.A.S.’s Crime- Five Lies K7(1986)
1. Five Lies
2. Taedium Vitae
3. And Now
4. Statuary Emotion
5. Last Metro
6. Arabian Silence
7. Macabra Danza
8. The Lost Men
9. Devil In The Mirror
10. The Garden
11. Without Nothing
12. Inner World
13. The Important Day
14. My People Gone Away
15. Mary’s Room
16. The Snake
17. Small Man
18. The Final Scream

electa

L.A.S.’s Crime- Electa K7 (1988)
1. Atmosphere n.1
2. Animals Die
3. Atmosphere n.2
4. Party’s Over
5. Atmosphere n.3
6. Morpheus
7. Atmosphere n.4
8. Matrix
9. Atmosphere n.5
10. Dark Xmas
11. Atmosphere n.6
12. The Ultimate Sacrifice

*download both here*

The band recently joined Facebook as well and have uploaded a bunch of pictures, interviews, and miscellaneous images.  Feel free to drop them a line!

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Ania- Ma’king Love 7”

Posted in 1980s, 1984, ania, minimal, minimal synth, swedish, synthpop on November 26, 2012 by Frankie Teardrop

Been a long time since we’ve had something on the minimal synth side of the spectrum, so after another excellent Thanksgiving break I offer up this little Swedish nugget from 1984.  A simple two track 7” of very murky origin, on a label with no other releases credited via discogs, a slice of synth perfection with female vocals that is guaranteed to get your goose, or rather, turkey leftovers cooking… The A-side is best enjoyed by those who like sleazy, funky disco in the vein of Nancy Nova.  The B-side is the real treat here, a must for minimal die-hards and worth the price of admission alone, if you’ve got the chowder to purchase your own copy.  After downloading, mister Vanilla Face of Crispy Nuggets drew accurate comparisons to Rive Gauche & Carol releases.  A perfect comparison, if I do say so myself!

Ania- Ma’king Love 7”
1. Ma’king Love
2. …On the Telephone

*download it here*

 

Taking a quick glance at the queue, we’ll be getting back to rare tapes over the next few weeks, with an exception here or there.  A few hints about some upcoming posts: LC, PM, OD, SI, & LD.  Stay tuned for more over the next few weeks!

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East Wall- Demo K7

Posted in 1980s, 1984, darkwave, demo, East Wall, italian, italo, italo disco, Kirlian Camera, minimal, minimal synth on October 22, 2012 by Frankie Teardrop

I’ve had this demo kicking around on my hard drive for a long time, but have yet to see it shared.  For those unfamilair, East Wall were an offshoot project of Kirlian Camera’s original keyboard player Fabrizio Chiari, who recorded the band’s debut 12” (for my money, “News” is still the band’s best track followed closely by the soaring “Blue Room”).  Teaming up with vocalist Wilma Notari, East Wall produced one LP and the excellent Eyes of Glass 12” (produced and aided by KC mainstay Angelo Bergamini), both which can be found here.  There’s also a CD from 1993 out there, but I have no idea how that stacks up against their previous material.

I know very little about this demo tape, except that it was released in 1984, a year before their debut 12”.  Most of the track titles are unknown, but the first track is clearly an early version of “Blue,” which was re-recorded for their 1991 LP Silence.  The rest of the tracks sound hauntingly familiar (perhaps they were reworked entirely for Silence), but outside of some vague similarity, they seem to be exclusive to this tape.   There’s some obvious cassette murkiness here, but it’s to be expected and the tape is still worth hearing for die hard fans of this excellent Italian duo as well as the primitive minimal synth of Tranquil Eyes & A Blaze Colour.

No artwork for the tape, sorry!

East Wall- Demo K7
1. Track 01 (Blue)
2. Track 02
3. Track 03
4. Track 04
5. Track 05

*download it here*

4 Comments »

Nuvo West- Scary LP

Posted in 1980s, 1983, arizona, minimal, minimal synth, new wave, US with tags on June 26, 2012 by Frankie Teardrop

Here’s a rare and obscure minimal synth LP from Phoenix, Arizona, perfect for fans of Bugger West, Tone Set, Combined Minds, etc (the latter two who also hailed from Arizona). Varying degrees of DIY desert-synth magic here, my favorite track being the closing instrumental “Shades of Yesterday,” which almost feels like a synth version of Angelo Badalamenti’s Twin Peaks score… I do believe there’s a tape out there somewhere that precedes this LP, but no info about that one, sorry!

Thanks to Bx-59cppw for the donation!

Nuvo West- Scary LP
1. Theme For Alienation
2. Accidents Don’t Happen In My World
3. Dogs Have Their Days
4. Little Yellow Pills
5. Androids Love
6. Shades Of Yesterday

*download it here*

8 Comments »

Incandescent Luminaire- Famous Names 7”

Posted in 1980s, 1982, minimal, minimal synth, synth, uk with tags , , , on April 21, 2012 by Frankie Teardrop

Quick request this weekend for Incandescent Luminaire’s lone 7” from 1982. Excellent minimal synth from the UK, featuring Mark White (formerly of ABC and Vice Versa). Nice duality on both sides- the a-side is a nice slice of minimal electronic pop, while the second is a more experimental affair, complete with rickety synth lines aggressive guitar textures. Perfect for fans of Testcard F, The Actor, and bands of that ilk.

Incandescent Luminaire- Famous Names 7”
1. Famous Names
2. The Warning

*download it here*

4 Comments »

Mecanica Popular- ¿Que Sucede Con El Tiempo? LP

Posted in 1980s, 1984, 1990, experimental, industrial, kosmiche, mecanica popular, minimal, minimal synth, spain, spanish on April 4, 2012 by Frankie Teardrop

Still continuing to drop the posts I had lined up while figuring out what, if anything, to do about the past. Looks like Rapidshare is the way to go for now, but who knows how long they’ll be off-the-radar, as they’ve apparently slowed DL rates to discourage illegal content. Too much in flux to really pin down a proper solution.

That said, here’s a gift from Bx-59cppw that I’ve been meaning to post for some time. Here we have the debut album from Mecanica Popular, a Spanish industrial/experimental duo. Originally released in 1994, this LP also saw a repressing in 1990, while their second LP was originally released in 1987 and appeared again in 2010.

A must hear for fans of Factrix, Dome, Throbbing Gristle, The Elephant Table LP, and other things that go bump and scrape in the night. There’s some nice grooves here and there that should also be right at home for fans of minimal synth and kosmiche music.

Mecanica Popular- ¿Que Sucede Con El Tiempo? LP
1. Impresionistas I
2. La Edad del Bronce
3. Impresionistas II
4. Quiero Irme
5. Siempre Tu
6. Impresionistas III
7. Estado Sólido
8. Galilea: Centro de Datos
9. Daguerrotipo
10. Ambrotipo
11. Plenilunio
12. Máquinas y Procedimientos
13. Impresionistas IV

*download it here*

For those fluent in Spanish, you can read more about the band here.

6 Comments »

Thirteen At Midnight- Other Passengers 7”

Posted in 1980s, minimal, minimal synth, post-punk, survival records, thirteen at midnight, uk on February 6, 2012 by Frankie Teardrop

A donation from Jason, much appreciated!

Here we have a highly coveted single from Thirteen At Midnight, known for their work on Survival Records. Many readers should already be familiar with the disco rave up recording of this track (originally released as the b-side to Climb Down), with female vocals and pounding electronic percussion, but few know of this version, which has a more post-punk style to it. Reminds me a lot of early, minimal synth tinged Simple Minds, if you’re one for touchstones. Almost unrecognizable outside of the sweeping synths, but equally awesome. Check out the locked groove on side B!

No year listed on this one, but it likely predates the b-side recording from 1982, released on the same Pure label. If I had to guess, I’d say 1981, but almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades…

Thirteen At Midnight- Other Passengers 7”
1. Other Passengers
2. Other Passengers (2)

*download it here* (RE-RIPPED/uploaded on 3.8.12)

2 Comments »

UA- Cantante De Ópera 7”

Posted in 1980s, 1982, minimal, minimal synth, new wave, spain, ua on November 11, 2011 by Frankie Teardrop

Feeling fiesty this Friday, so here’s a SECOND post for your weekend pleasure. It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything minimal synth related, and I’ve had this single kicking around for years, so it’s about damn time I posted it. So, synth fans, this one is for you!

Here we have a often-coveted 7” from Spain, released in 1982 on Hispavox, who had tie-ins with EMI and are still around to date. This is the band’s only release, pure minimal bliss. The A-side is all over the map, shifting in and out of tempos and featuring some rather impressive operatic female vocals, as the title might suggest. The B-side is the standout for me, a really pretty pseudo-instrumental (minimal vox) with washes of synth (and what sounds like, but likely is not a theremin). Both tracks are worth your attention, but don’t let me tell you twice.

UA- Cantante De Ópera 7”
1. Cantante De Ópera
2. Maldoror

*download it here*

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Vono- It’s Time LP

Posted in 1980s, 1986, ebm, german, minimal, minimal synth, new wave, vono on September 28, 2011 by Frankie Teardrop

I’ve had this on deck to post for a bit, but what better time to post it than now? Mr. Goutroy of A Viable Commercial has dusted off and uploaded Vono’s quirky and charmingly amateur first LP over at his space, so in true blogger camaraderie fashion, here’s their final LP. Bookends for your listening pleasure, if you will.

Whereas Dinner Für 2 is a simple, yet detached record, this 1986 entry is anything but. Four years later, the duo grew as musicians and fleshed out their sound from their humble beginnings. It seems that one day, someone must have pissed in their Cheerios, as the band developed a more aggressive EBM-esque sound in the vein of Body 11, Bigod 20, Front 242, and other such bands with numbers. However, this is not a play-it-by-numbers EBM record as you might expect from that description. The vocals are a little more palatable than most EBM bands of the time, organic tones in lieu of the overdriven vocals that would become a genre staple into the 1990s. If anything, the LP is harder to pin down, stylistically. Other touchstones I’m hearing here include mid-period Wire (The Ideal Copy is my favorite, in case you were wondering) and the atmosphere of Peter Gabriel’s third and fourth records (cool!). Also hard to deny the Public Image crib on track six. No samples, but well, let’s just say it sounds like a response track.

There’s no real standout hit a la “Headhunter” or “Sensoria” here, but this album functions well as a whole. Besides, there are plenty of deep, funky synth grooves packed that make this LP worth a peek for any fan of the wave spectrum.

Vono- It’s Time LP
1. It’s Time
2. This Door
3. Geh Deinen Weg
4. Zerstoert
5. Here Comes
6. Love Song
7. Lebe Heute
8. Das Wars

*download it here*

I’ll be on hiatus for a little bit here, as we’re gearing up for a big move, and it’s likely we won’t be setting up the turntables for a few weeks. I may have a few things loaded in the queue to bring out here and there, but I’ll be loaded for bear when I get back to full functionality!

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