Cold Waves And Minimal Electronics Vol.1

EndOfData

I still don’t remember it ever being called ‘cold wave’ or ‘minimal synth’ but I am glad that the early pioneers of SynthPop are getting a bit of attention these past few months (and that the sound is being carried on by a new batch of artists!). Angular Recording Corporation has enlisted the help of two men who spearheaded this revival, Pieter Schoolwerth, founder of Wired Records and Angular’s own Joe Daniel to compile 17 tracks of classic Futurist Pop for their forthcoming ‘Cold Waves And Minimal Electronics Vol.1’.

Spanning 1981-1985 and digging out some severely rare 7”s and demo tapes the compilation perfectly captures the underground electronic sound of the early 80’s northern Europe. Check the track list:

01. Absolute Body Control – Figures
02. Nine Circles – Twinkling Stars
03. Linear Movement – Night In June
04. Opera Multi Steel – Ills S’eloigent
05. Bal Paré – Palais D’Amour
06. Eleven Pond – Watching Trees
07. The Vyllies – Babylon
08. End Of Data – Dans Votre Monde
09. The Actor – Lights
10. Ausgang Verboten – Consumer
11. Jeunesse D’Ivoire – A Gift Of Tears
12. OTO – Anyway
13. Ruth – Polaroïd/Roman/Photo
14. Stereo – Somewhere In The Night
15. The Neon Judgement – The Fashion Party
16. Land Of Giants – Cannibal Dolls
17. Days Of Sorrow – Travel

To give you a taste of what to expect I’ve dug into my archive to bring you two tracks that appear on the compilation. End Of Data’s ‘Dans Votre Monde’ from the LP of the same name and The Neon Judgement’s classic ‘The Fashion Party’, two amazing slices of raw, early electronic Pop.

♫ End Of Data – Dans Votre Monde (zShare) (MediaFire)

♫ The Neon Judgement – The Fashion Party (zShare) (MediaFire)

‘Cold Waves And Minimal Electronics Vol.1’ is released 8th March.

Cold Waves And Minimal Electronics Vol.1 @ Amazon

End Of Data @ Amazon

The Neon Judgement @ Beatport

The Neon Judgement @ Juno

The Neon Judgement @ 7Digital

The Neon Judgement @ Amazon

Yuksek reMixes Gorillaz

Gorillaz 

I do like a bit of Gorillaz when the mood takes me and I pretty much love Yuksek’s music whenever/wherever so this reMix combination is a tasty deal!

It doesn’t disappoint. Yuksek brings quite a mid-tempo Electro flavour, it’s like a chilled out version of one of his bangers complete with the customary Yuksek drops and builds.

♫ Gorillaz (Feat. Bobby Womack & Mos Def) – Stylo (Yuksek reMix) (zShare) (MediaFire)

The single is already available digitally.

Gorillaz @ Juno

Gorillaz @ 7Digital

Gorillaz @ Amazon

Bear In Heaven

BearIn Heaven

Bear In Heaven are a Brooklyn based Indie/SynthPop quartet who make some epic emotional electronic sounds.

Combining exceptional songwriting with jangly guitars and laidback synth work, Bear In Heaven have an almost Electro shoegazey quality to their music that, after a few very successful live appearances, is causing a stir amongst the hipsters of New York.

Check out these tracks from their second album and get carried away with Bear In Heaven’s spaced out guitar-Electro.

♫ Bear In Heaven – Lovesick Teenagers (zShare) (MediaFire)

♫ Bear In Heaven – You Do You (zShare) (MediaFire)

♫ Bear In Heaven – Wholehearted Mess (zShare) (MediaFire)

BIH have recently released their album, ‘Beast Rest For Mouth’ and are currently touring with Cymbals Eat Guitars.

Bear In Heaven @ Juno

Bear In Heaven @ 7Digital

Bear In Heaven @ Amazon

Nitzer Ebb exclusive reMix

NitzerEbb02

We already brought you the news of Nitzer Ebb’s first studio album in 14 years a couple of months ago. That album, ‘Industrial Complex’ is about to get it’s UK release as a 2xCD set including a second album of reMixes.

reMixes come from such names as Recoil’s Alan Wilder, long-time Douglas McCarthy collaborator Terence Fixmer, Celluloide, People Theatre & Tom Furse.

This reMix we can share with you today is an exclusive and won’t be appearing on the album itself. By Richard Clouston/Cosey Club it’s a deep, hypnotic, Minimal Electro piece with a dark, ominous tone.

♫ Nitzer Ebb – Never Known (Richard Clouston/Cosey Club reMix) (zShare) (MediaFire)

The ‘Industrial Complex’ 2xCD set is out in the UK on 15th February.

Nitzer Ebb @ Beatport

Nitzer Ebb @ Juno

Nitzer Ebb @ 7Digital

Nitzer Ebb @ Amazon

Led Er Est

LedErEst

The later part of last year saw a resurgence of what ‘they’ are now calling Minimal Synth or (even) Coldwave, but which I would really just call SynthPop. I guess it’s SynthPop inspired by the late 70’s/early 80’s pioneers of the genre rather than the mid 80’s chart toppers, if you wanted to be really picky I’d call it Futurist music, but whatever, scenes do love their genre names so Minimal Synth it is!

Led Er Est hailing from Brooklyn are one of the leaders of the pack, signed to scene leaders Wierd Records and recently released their ‘Dust On Common’ album which could have quite happily been released on Mute in 1979 alongside Fad Gadget and The Normal. Cheap drum machines and synths hammer away relentlessly forming a post-industrial soundscape for sombre yet emotive vocals.

♫ Led Er Est – Laredo (zShare) (MediaFire)

♫ Led Er Est – Poll Gorm (zShare) (MediaFire)

♫ Led Er Est – Port Isabel (zShare) (MediaFire)

Their album is out now on Wierd Records.

Led Er Est @ Juno

Led Er Est @ 7Digital

Led Er Est @ Amazon

Volta Cab

VoltaCab

Following hot on the heels of Tesla Boy comes Russia’s latest Dreamwave hope, Volta Cab.

Owing just as much to Sci-Fi as it does to the 80’s, VC’s music is a fluid combination of retro electronics, Nu-Disco, ElectroPop and Chiptune. ‘Clarissa’ is a analog bass laden  tune with sweet vocodered vocals that is so smooth it practically melts your speakers. ‘Stay With You’ is more of a driving number with 80’s rock samples throughout while ‘We Are Marsians’ is more typical Dreamwave fare but show the Volta Club really is top of his game.

♫ Volta Cab – Clarissa (zShare) (MediaFire)

♫ Volta Cab – Stay With You (zShare) (MediaFire)

♫ Volta Cab – We Are Marsians (zShare) (MediaFire)

Sitting somewhere between Fear Of Tigers and Kavinsky, you can check some more of Volta Cab’s stuff on his MySpace.

Volta Cab @ MySpace

AXXE

AXXE

Montreal ElectroPop duo AXXE apparently came together out of a dislike for each other and despite living in close quarters utilise technology to undertake their songwriting and production remotely!

Whether that’s just spin or not, the music stands on it’s own merits. Their recently released double A-side ‘Hard Candy’/’S.A.T.U.R.D.A.Y. Night’ drops two slices of expertly crafted DiscoPop that just ooze decadence. the tracks have been given the reMix treatment by two pretty well known Electro up-and-comers, Worship and Neon Workout. I’ve loved Worship’s previous reMixes and her the Swiss producer ramps up the AutoTune to create an edge Nu-Disco vibe. Neon Workout takes it straight to the dancefloor with electro tom and handclap craziness!

♫ AXXE – Hard Candy (zShare) (MediaFire)

♫ AXXE – Hard Candy (Worship reMix) (zShare) (MediaFire)

♫ AXXE – S.A.T.U.R.D.A.Y. Night (zShare) (MediaFire)

♫ AXXE – S.A.T.U.R.D.A.Y. Night (Neon Workout reMix) (zShare) (MediaFire)

The single is available from Bandcamp, and go give AXXE some MySpace lovin’!

AXXE @ Bandcamp

AXXE @ MySpace

Lovefoxxx & 80kidz; Ultra team-up!

Lovefoxxx

Japan based Electro heroes 80kidz ‘ave only gone and teamed up with Indie-Electro goddess Lovefoxxx of CSS, ain’t they!

Sounds like a match made in heaven, right? Well the track is everything you’d hope it would be. It’s a huge, dirty juggernaut that manages to be noisy and catchy all at the same time. The combination of 80kidz chainsaw Synths and Lovefoxxx’s madness is sheer genius.

♫ 80kidz (Feat. Lovefoxxx) – Spoiledboy (zShare) (MediaFire)

I think I need a lie down!

80kidz @ Beatport

80kidz @ Juno

80kidz @ Amazon

CSS @ Beatport

CSS @ Juno

CSS @ 7Digital

CSS @ Amazon

Baby Monster; She Comes Alive

BabyMonster

Electronic Duo Baby Monster’s new single ‘She Comes Alive’ will be the début single from BigStereo Records, an extension of one of our favourite blogs, BigStereo.

They couldn’t have picked a better track to kick of their label with. We’ve featured Baby Monster before, and been very impressed, so this new release had a lot to live up to. Never fear, the track doesn’t fail to impress, sharp beats, synths that just wash over you and an anthemic yet soft spoken vocal.

♫ Baby Monster – She Comes Alive (zShare) (MediaFire)

Keep an eye out for forthcoming Golden Bug & Jock Seams remixes. The single drops 29th March both digitally and on a 7” limited to 350 copies.

You can pre-order the 7” here:

Baby Monster @ BigStereo Records

XI

Some late night Dubstep for you right about now courtesy of Torontonian producer XI who’s about to drop a new EP on Bristol’s Immerse Records.

‘000’ and it’s flip side ‘Slippin’’ are two heavy bass monsters with a nod to the Electro side of things, both delivering warped, evolving Electronics over some killer subs.

♫ XI – 000 (zShare) (MediaFire)

♫ XI – Slippin’ (zShare) (MediaFire)

The EP is released 22nd February.

XI @ Chemical Records

XI @ Beatport