Sixtieth Parallel- Into Bliss 12”

Posted in 1980s, 1988, alternative, paisley underground, post-punk, sixtieth parallel on July 8, 2013 by Frankie Teardrop

Sixtieth Parallel were an undersung US three piece from California, playing in the vein of early U2, The Chameleons, Mighty Lemon Drops, Sad Lovers and Giants, Blue Hollow, etc. (aka, some of my very favorite things).  Tight rhythm section, guitars reminiscent of the alternative explosion of the mid-80s, and really catchy songwriting at every turn.  This is their only documented release, dropped in 1988 on Dr. Dream records.

This 12” was highly recommended by my friend Teresa and I’ve been enjoying it for a few months now.  It can be found easily and for relatively cheap prices if you’re into it, and rumor has it the band has reunited to record new versions of old demos, so keep an eye out for those!

Sixtieth Parallel- Into Bliss 12”
1. Over And Over
2. Passionately Deep
3. Like Dust
4. Trust
5. One Day
6. Into Bliss

*download it here*

11 Comments »

Guardian Bird- La Poupée K7

Posted in 1991, coldwave, france, french, goth, guardian bird on June 23, 2013 by Frankie Teardrop

I’ve received a few requests for this one through various channels so sorry for the delay on this one.  This was passed down to me by a few fellow collectors but to my knowledge, it hasn’t been shared yet, outside of a few tracks on Youtube.    Most people are mainly familiar with this obscure French coldwave/goth band via Extérieur Nuit, a more modern collection of French obscurities including Mémoires D’Automne.  The same track appears here, making this the band’s only known release.

I know very little about the band, except that they were based in Lille and had six members (two guitarists, drums, bass, vocals, and synth).  This tape was released in 1991, and features a more aggressive sound than most of touching pop bands that were heavily active around that time period.  The closest touchstones I can think of are Bauhaus (especially in the vocals), The Bolshoi, or early Gene Loves Jezebel, combining cold synths, powerful vocals, and big guitar hooks.   It’s a sound that was likely passe at that point in time, but nice to hear a French variant of it.  The centerpiece of the tape is the eight minute “Le Jeune et le Bleu,” which aims for Disintegration-esque highs and falls somewhere between the eponymous track from that record, and “Out of Mind”- the underrated b-side from the Fascination Street/Lullaby 12”, and would fit in alongside songs like Escape With Romeo’s “Somebody” as a lesser-known mid-tempo guitar epic.  And what better way to follow up an eight minute epic than with a ten minute track, which features a more guttural snarl.

T.T.I.C.C. Contingent also released tapes from Bunker Strasse and L’Avis G821.

R-864469-1166824971

Guardian Bird- La Poupée K7
1. Clumsy Gesture
2. La Poupée
3. Renaissance
4. Penombra Of Vice
5. Le Jaune Et Le Bleu
6. Parc Pour Fou
7. Sens

*download it here*

6 Comments »

Various Artists- Dreams and Desires K7

Posted in 1980s, 1984, 4ad, coldwave, compilations, goth, goth-rock, minimal synth, pleasantly surprised, post-punk on June 12, 2013 by Frankie Teardrop

Have a few tapes here to share over the next few weeks… Some more rare Italian demos, a 2xK7 French compilation, and much more, but here’s an old classic as donated by Jeffo and re-ripped at VBR for maximum enjoyment.  You may have heard this over at Return of the East back in the day, an old favorite blog of all things dark that’s since purged from Blogger.  PS- You should all take a listen to The Anxiety of Love if you want to hear more from the excellent chap who ran that blog, here’s to more great sounds from them to come.

This tape, released in 1984, essentially reads like a who’s who of the classic 4AD roster, with some other amazing contributions from favorites such as Pink Industry (and a track by Ambrose working on her own), Vazz, Clair Obscur, In the Nursery, Band of Holy Joy, etc.    Many of the tracks that appear here are in demo form, some of which (like the sketch of Cocteau Twins’ sublime “Pearly Dewdrops Drops” and Dead Can Dance’s excellent demo of “The Arcane”) haven’t been compiled in even the most thorough retrospectives.

Pleasantly Surprised, the Scottish label run by Robert H. King, eventually became Cathexis Recordings (Vazz and Clair Obscur vinyl releases), which then turned into Total, a music magazine, by the 1990s.  Pleasantly Surprised were notorious for these compilations, as well as for releasing a rare Dif Juz tape and providing reissues/alternate distribution methods for an early Clair Obscur release, just to name a few standout credits.  I haven’t heard many of the other VA compilations so I can’t be sure if the versions on those cassettes are demos as they are here, or if they’re studio versions compiled for cassette.  If anyone can confirm or deny, please feel free to leave a comment.

Various Artists- Dreams and Desires K7
1. Side A Intro
2. Richard Killing- Nervous Choir
3. Tag Fur Tag (Demo)- Xmal Deutschland
4. Diamonds In the Mine (Live)- Artery
5. Silver- Vazz
6. Sex Gun (Demo)- Colourbox
7. Ecstasy (Instrumental*)- The Wolfgang Press
8. Pain of Pride- Pink Industry
9. A Glorious Morning In Orton Street- The Band of Holy Joy
10. Side A Outro
11. Side B Intro
12. The Pilgrim’s Progress (Instrumental)- Clair Obscur
13. The Arcane (Demo)- Dead Can Dance
14. Can’t Get Used to Losing You- David J
15. In One Move- Illegitimate Sons of Christ
16. Pearly Dewdrop’s Drops (Demo)- Cocteau Twins
17. Iskra- In the Nursery
18. Free At Last- Ambrose
19. Illustrated- Andrew Grey
20. Tree Top Club (Demo)- Virginia Astley
21. Smile- Patrik Fitzgerald
22. Side B Outro

*download it here*

 

*not really an instrumental at all.  But we all know the Rema-Rema gag, right?

7 Comments »

Stranger To Stranger- Casting Shadows LP

Posted in 1980s, 1984, goth-rock, post-punk, stranger to stranger on June 6, 2013 by Frankie Teardrop

Been a bit since my last post, at least by my standards.  I’ve spent the past few weeks revisiting a lot of my 7”s and making new rips of quite a few of them, as well as a few that haven’t been posted/have been posted elsewhere.  You’ll see some of those soon, but for now, you can check these posts for new rips:

Berlin- The Metro 7”
Jus D’orange/Red Rain Coat 7”s
Fatidic Seconde- Le Drakkar 7”
Message- Dernière Nuit 7”
Troops For Tomorrow- Songs of Joy & Faith 7”
I’m So Hollow- Emotion/Sound/Motion LP (LP only)
Minimal Synth mystery corner 7”
Excentrique Noiz- Dark Crystal Day 7”
Repetition- A Still Reflex 7”
Modern Eon- Fiction Tales Plus (VBR rip thanks to Jeff!)
Luxembourg- La Cible 7”
Sensation- Trafic 7”
Ahab- Party Girl 7”
Ultime Possibilité- Errance 7”

I’ve ripped a few new acquisitions too, so with that in mind, here’s an LP that’s appeared elsewhere on the net thanks to Fantod Under Glass, but I finally got my hands on a fresh copy for maximum listening pleasure.  Fantastic debut release from Stranger to Stranger, a Philadelphia, PA band from 1984.  As Fantod explains, there’s a heavy 4AD influence here, from the more esoteric post-punk era of the label (My Captains, Mass, etc.) as well as some similarities to Sad Lovers and Giants, European Toys, and the above mentioned I’m So Hollow.

Quite a UK-centric sound for this ambitious Philadelphia band, who have six more releases following this one.  I’ve only heard 1985’s The Child In Me 12” and the follow up LP, both of which move more towards an indie/jangle sound.  Great if you like that sort of thing as well (I certainly do), but this LP is the real deal, and both “Easter Night” and “Evening Opus” have quickly become favorites.   You can get the 12” on Vinyl Obscurity, and you can catch the Darkest Dreams LP on A Viable Commercial!

You can read a bit more about the band here.

Stranger to Stranger- Casting Shadows LP
1. Easter Night
2. Crowded Room
3. In Your Eyes
4. Voices Calling
5. Flux
6. Cry To Dream
7. Evening Opus (Pts. 1, 2 & 3)
8. Lonely Winter
9. Wind On Skin

*download it here*

13 Comments »

Dropopop- Knuste Drømmer 7”

Posted in 1980s, 1982, coldwave, dropopop, goth, goth-rock, norweigan, post-punk with tags on May 23, 2013 by Frankie Teardrop

This 7” was a recent discovery (on Youtube of all places), and it’s as cold as the night is long.  This one-off single from Norway was released in 1982 and bears a strong resemblance to the usual suspects, including heavy influence by Joy Division and early Cure, as well as sharing similar sonic territory with bands like the Dutch Neon, The Opposition’s amazing first record, and the U 137 single I just posted a few days ago.

The A-side is a recent obsession of mine with heavy drums and haunting melodies, but the two tracks on the flip are equally commanding, dark and intense listens.  The band have three more other songs spread across two different cassette comps. but I haven’t heard them.

As always, little to be found about the band.  It appears they were from Skien, a large shipping town in the Southeast of Norway. A four piece by defintion, there were two additional musicians on this single, one playing string synths and the other credited with additional drum work.  Their label, Uncle Remus Records, also released a 7” and LP by fellow Norweigans band Øresus, which you can grab here if you want some excellent anthemic punk a la Generation X or the KBD comps.  But I know you guys, you like it cold and dark…

Dropopop- Knuste Drømmer 7”
1. Knuste Drømmer
2. Frykt
3. Giftige Lepper

*download it here*

7 Comments »

Luxus- Smiling Daughters 7”

Posted in 1980s, 1982, luxus, minimal, minimal synth, new wave, ohio, synth, US with tags on May 21, 2013 by Frankie Teardrop

Here’s a 7” recommended highly by a few collectors out there.  This one hails from 1982 and features a dirgey, drum heavy minimal synth sound very similar to Pink Industry (with vocals that sound like a pitched down/drugged out Bowie or John Foxx) on the a-side.  The B-side is a little more new wave-y by definition, but still a great listen.  Fans of Fallout Club may like this one as well.

This is the band’s second single on Stork Records.   I only have the A-side of that at 128, but if someone has this one and can rip both sides, feel free to chime in!  EDIT: Soul brotha Nick over at Crispy Nuggets just exhumed the first 7”, so head on over there to grab it.

Chuck from the band chimed in recently and had this to say about this excellent slice of synth goodness:

Recorded in a basement on a Dokordor Open Reel 4 track on the east side of Cleveland, Ohio. I know this because I played bass, some keys, and audio manipulations. Smiling Daughters took months to record, I’m So Confused(I’m A Mess) took a weekend.

You heard it from the source, kids!

Luxus- Bent to Scale 7”
1. Smiling Daughters
2. I’m So Confused (I’m In A Mess)

*download it here*

7 Comments »

U 137- Härifrån Till Evigheten 7”

Posted in 1980s, 1982, coldwave, post-punk, Stulna Begär, swedish, Total Musak, U 137 on May 10, 2013 by Frankie Teardrop

U 137 were a Swedish band, also featuring Mats Larsson (alias Tage Jesus) of Stulna Begär. They took their name from a Russian submarine that hit a rock in Swedish international waters in 1981, causing further speculation of Soviet influence on Sweden.  It’s a very interesting incident, which you can read more about here.

It seems like this was a collaborative project of three like-minded Swedish musicians, who swapped instruments for each track. Vocalist Michael Andersson would go on to form Sacrilege, a death/black metal band in the 90s.  Andersson and Anders Nilsson (aka Nisse) also released a few singles as Andra Sidan in the late 1980s.  Most notably, all three members were involved in Total Musak, with a similar cold/post-punk style and a female singer.   Total Musak further explored the Cold War sentiment covered here, and are just as good.  BONUS: you can hear all their recordings (though sadly only at 128 kbps) here.  Awesome!

Not sure how many copies of this exist in total (rough guess is 500), but the first 300 copies were pressed on blue vinyl with no center label. This is the version I have.

Both sides here have something different to offer, likely a product of Larsson and Nilsson swapping string synth/drum duties for each track. Fans of bands like Peyr, Killing Joke, and the Red Rain Coat 7” will dig the energy of “En Som Faller,” (A Falling) while those who prefer the the cold Seventeen Seconds, Names/Factory sound should go nuts for “Baksidan Av Ditt Öga” (The Back of Your Eye).  There is rumored to be an English version of “En Som Faller” on a compilation, re-titled “Trip and Die” but not sure where you can hear that version.  For now, here’s a fresh rip of this excellent 7”!

U 137- Härifrån Till Evigheten 7”
1. Baksidan Av Ditt Öga
2. En Som Faller

*download it here*

Thanks to the excellent B-Sound website for filling in the gaps of this otherwise mysterious 7”!

2 Comments »

Language From Memory- Fortune 7”

Posted in 1980s, 1981, language from memory, minimal synth, nick head, post-punk, uk on May 3, 2013 by Frankie Teardrop

England was ripe with excellent DIY post-punk and minimal synth gems, bands inspired by Factory Records, early Cure singles, etc.  Some of my favorite 7”s (Obscure By Degrees, Persons Unknown etc.) were birthed from this era with the same aesthetic.  So with that in mind, here’s another obscure gem from Towerbell Records, released in 1981.  This is the one and only single from Language From Memory, who disappeared into the ether soon after recording this 7”.  It’s a shame, as the a-side here truly kicks ass, one of the best undiscovered gems I’ve stumbled upon in recent times.  Incisive guitars, Sad Lovers and Giants-esque string synths, and catchy, fist-pumping hooks abound.  Power pop lovers will also enjoy the flip.

The band were from northern London, and played out quite often in the early 80s.  As for their disappearance, I believe they changed names and continued on together.  A fan who knew the band back then states that Nick Head played rhythm guitar on this single.  The name may be familiar to some, as he also acted as producer/engineer for KMFDM and Exit 13.

This single is also proof that not all obscurities are out of budget, as there are tons of copies out there to be had for relatively cheap, even by discogs standards.   Towerbell seemed to have some backing behind it, and a decently stacked roster, which was formed out of the disco era and included Shirley Bassey and Justin Hayward (Moody Blues) as well as a series of popular TV series compilations.  I haven’t heard of much else from the label, so perhaps this single is an anomaly, but either way, aspiring collectors should have no problem finding a copy for themselves…

Language From Memory- Fortune 7”
1. Fortune
2. The Coat

*download it here*

3 Comments »

Mickeranno- Mickeranno LP

Posted in 1980s, 1985, experimental, italian, mickeranno, post-punk on April 30, 2013 by Frankie Teardrop

Here’s another LP on donation from Ondanera, deep from the heart of Italy.  This LP is the lone release from Mickeranno, an artist from Catania, a town in Sicily (Sicilian pride!).  As I understand it, Jacopo Leone was the primary musician for this release, with a few collaborators providing drums, trumpet, and other touches. Recorded in Northern Italy in the Emilia Romagna region, the album didn’t break out past its native country when it was released in 1985, so hopefully it can find new life here.

Fans of bands like Felt, Dif Juz, or the Durutti Column will love this one, as it’s a quiet, understated affair, with subtle electronic/dark synth flourishes against a mostly acoustic backdrop. A really haunting record from a very humble and quiet area in Italy. The standout track is easily the gloomy “Da Un’altra Parte” (From Another Part) but this a really interesting listen, front to back. Hope you enjoy it!

Mickeranno- Mickeranno LP
1. Decisioni
2. Solo Voci
3. Boh
4. Dai Vetri
5. D.D.
6. E Per Un Paio Di Giorni
7. Uscirò Ogni Sera
8. Fotocopiandoti
9. Nel Buio
10. Da Un’Altra Parte
11. Che Si Tratti Di Me?
12. Boh (Versione 2)

*download it here*

PS- I removed the link for La Valse for now… I’m expecting a copy of the 7” in the mail.  Once it arrives, I’ll make a new rip and let you all know so you can update your digital files.  Hang tight, and thanks as always for the support.

9 Comments »

La Valse- Winter 7”

Posted in 1980s, 1984, coldwave, Dutch, la valse, netherlands on April 22, 2013 by Frankie Teardrop

Incredibly rare 7” from the Netherlands here that I’ve seen on several wantlists over the years.  Due time for this gem to be heard!  No year attached to this one, and despite the label (No Records), it may be a private pressing.  If I had to guess, it has an early 80s feel to it- perhaps 1981-4 due to the prominent use of the TR606 (EDIT: according to a magazine listing, this was released in 1984).  The band were from Breda and this is their only release, perfect for fans of that cold guitar sound with both male and female vocals on the a-side.  Minimal synth fans should also enjoy this one, as the flip features some trademark synth and drum machine work.  You can also find “Sorrow” on one of the None Night of Flexipop compilations…

Either way, both tracks here are great, gloomy affairs that should feel at home for fans of The Names/Factory Records.

Thanks to Stéphane for clueing me into and sending me the original rip of this lost classic!

La Valse- Winter 7”
1. Winter
2. Sorrow

*download it here* (RE-RIPPED at 320 kbps 5.5.13)

10 Comments »

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