Basically a duo consisting of vocalists/keyboard players Myke Reilly and Charly Brown, the San Francisco-based Voice Farm debuted in 1982 with 'The World We Live In', an album consisting of their half-instrumental, half-poetic songs put to synthesizer shadings and light percussion. Five years later, Voice Farm returned for a self-titled album on Ralph Records; Reilly and Brown, though still just a duo, added a guitarist and several backing vocalists for a dance-oriented sound that still made heavy use of the keyboards. After another long gap between recordings, 'Bigger Cooler Weirder' was released in 1991. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Label: Optional Music – 5
Format:
Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM
Country: US
Released: 1981
Style: Synth-pop, Minimal, Darkwave, New Wave, Minimal Wave
Tracklist:
A Double Garage 2:37
B Elevate 3:48
Notes:
Re-released in the UK in 1982 by Alternative Tentacles licensed from Systematic Records.
The Urge were a Post-punk experimental band from Coventry, formed in 1978. Members were Dave Wankling (vocals), Kevin Harrison (guitar, synthesizer), Lynda "Wulf" Harrison (vocals), John Westacott (bass, 1978-80), Nigel Mulvey (bass, 1980-?), Billy Little (drums), Rich Medlock (drums), Dennis Burns (keyboards), John Shipley (guitar) and Pete Jordan (saxophone). They released a coumple of singles on the Cönsumer Disk imprint, 'Bobby', and this 'Revolving Boy', both in 1980.
'Dreaming Spires' is the only full-length released by synth duo Two, formed in London in 1981 by Gill Benn and Iain Sanders. It has some experimental tracks as well, like "It Won't Work", a 15 minutes track that occupies the whole B Side with its minimal, murky electronic pulses and atmospheres.
Don't let the cheesy sleeve fool you. Interesting but quite hard-to-find album on Future Records. [SOURCE: ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ELECTRONIC MUSIC]
There were a whole host of anarcho-punk bands out there in the early 80s, but it seems they're all forgotten apart from Crass and Conflict. You think more people would be interested -the likes of APF Brigade, The Apostles and The Snails were the true OGs of anarchist rock rebellion yet here this sorry little demo sits with one measly rating.
It's very, very lo-fi indeed, and most of the time all you can hear are the drums and vocals, and our vocalist is no Steve Ignorant with his second-rate Johnny Rotten sneers. The most obvious criticism of anarcho-punk is that many of the bands put message before music, and that's the case here as many of the tracks on here are more on-record rants than songs. Yet anarcho-punk lyrics never fail to be interesting, indeed "From Foxhunts to Oblivion" is a very thought-provoking affair that starts with fox hunting and ends with an image of nuclear apocalypse. It's that typical Crass thing where you begin with one topic that you present as a microcosm of a bigger issue before hitting you over the head with said bigger issue. The sparseness of this tape is intriguing, and though it never really 'rocks', you certainly feel it. Not perfect, but recommended. [SOURCE: RATE YOUR MUSIC]
Label: New Crimes Tapes – N.C. 7
Format:
Cassette, Single Sided
Country: UK
Released: 1982
Style: Punk, Anarcho-Punk
Tracklist:
A1 Think Tank
A2 Factory
A3 Comment
A4 From Foxhunts To Oblivion
A5 Thatchers Victims
A6 Cocktail Version
A7 Army Manoeuvres
A8 Church
Notes:
Track A9 "Clockwork People" is missing in the upload
Reacta was a Punk Rock band from West London, formed in April 1978 by brothers Gerard Bennett (bass, vocals) and John Bennett (drums), together with Mark Denn (guitar) and Adrian Owalaka (guitar). They only released the 7" single 'Stop The World / SUS' in 1978 on Battery Operated Records, label founded by Daniel Treacy, core member of the Television Personalities. Gerry and John Bennett were also members of 'O' Level, Teen '78 and Television Personalities.
Really nice obscure new wave from Germany. Funky, relaxed minimal synth with minimalistic, dadaistic female and male vocals (mixing German, English and French lyrics) and some avantgardistic elements -edgy and weird, but still retaining a nice pop feel, just like it should be. It's even quite danceable -"Quick Culture 1" sounds quite like proto-house. And the caribbean and dubby elements on "Bahama-Kosaken" are also nice. But all in all, every song is very listenable, original and entertaining.
Original, sympathetic, and recommended to anyone who likes music between experimental and pop. [SOURCE: RATE YOUR MUSIC]
Label: 46 Records – PA 5000, Paradoxx Records – PA 5000
Format:
Vinyl, 12", Mini-Album, 45 RPM
Country: Germany
Released: 1982
Style: New Wave, Experimental,
Neue Deutsche Welle, Zolo, Synth Funk
Back in 1979 Ron Rude knew that he didn't stand a chance of landing a record deal, so he turned his Belgrave home into a budget recording studio, lined the walls with egg cartons from the poultry farm next door, and recorded an album, 'The Borders of Disgrace', which he put out on his own label Unforgettable Music. He made news by being the first artist to finance a commercial release using a $1000 cash advance courtesy of his guitar player, Stephen Clarke's credit card.
In 1980 Rude, this time with his own credit card and band Piano Piano made another album at home, 'The Vorpal Blade'. To promote it he went on a hunger strike in the window of Missing Link, an alternative record shop run at the time by Au Go GO records founder Keith Glass, and making news again, he demanded that local radio station 3XY play his records, threatening to drown himself in a bucket of water if they did not. His slogan, "3XY or I Die" was intended to show that the major mainstream rock station of the day would be unlikely to give a small-time independent artist a go. TV Channel 10 covered the story, and Rude had the momentum that he wanted. His next move was to make good a threat to drown himself on Hans Christian and Barry Bissel's morning 3XY program. The DJ's relented, and played excerpts of the album as Rude bubbled away with his head in a bucket of water. [SOURCE: PUNK A PHOTOGRAPHIC JOURNEY. THE HISTORY OF THE MELBOURNE PUNK SCENE]
Label: Unforgettable Music – RUD 002
Format:
Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: Australia
Released: 1980
Style: New Wave, Punk
Tracklist:
A1 Chance Meeting (Alternate Name In Brackets)
3:10
Out of Nowhere
formed
in Australia by
Peter Milton Walsh (guitar, vocals), Gary Warner (saxophone, piano), Joe Borkowski (bass), Tony Forde (clarinet) and Jeffrey Wegener (drums).
Peter Milton Walsh formed The Apartments in 1979 before joining Laughing Clowns. After that, he reformed The Apartments several times. He also
played in The Colors. Joe Borkowski was also in The Poles, while Jeffrey Wegener (drums), played with Ed Kuepper And The
Kowalski Collective, Laughing Clowns and the legendary Young Charlatans, a briefly existing Australian punk rock band comprising
Janine Hall on bass guitar, Jeffrey Wegener on drums, Ollie Olsen on
vocals and guitar and Rowland S. Howard on guitar. They formed in 1977
and disbanded in the following year.
Prince Melon is an Australian label established in 1980 by Ed Kuepper, then of Laughing Clowns. Besides the Laughing Clowns' early output, Prince Melon released singles by Hugo Klang and this 'Remember, Remember' by Out Of Nowhere in the early 80's.
In 1984 a new band appeared in Thessaloniki.
The name of the band was Noise Promotion Company and for the next few years will be established as one
of the best live acts of the town.
Their line up was Alex Apostolakis (drums), George “Banduk” Apostolakis (vocals and guitar -he played xylophone later)
and Thodoros Kondouris (bass).
Playing mainly a mixture of post punk and art rock with some funk elements, they were always experimenting on stage
trying to explore new styles and sounds.
Their first album, 'Silence' was released in 1986. It was followed by their next album 'Catalog' in 1988. Like most of the Greek bands, they remained a hidden treasure for years.
The band split after these two albums and later, George “Banduk” toured and recorded with the blues band
Blues Wire. [SOURCE: TRIBE4MIAN'S WEBLOG]
Part no wave, part post-punk, Mofungo was an off-kilter noise band that worked in atonalities, squalling sax, and unsettling vocals. Mofungo "evolved" (rather than just formed) from a group called Blinding Headache, which was essentially a running jam session that took place in a New York University dormitory. Blinding Headache morphed into Mofungo when Rick Brown left to join Information. Their first release, the 'Elementary Particles' EP, saw release in 1980 after the band had paid some dues by backing Nico. In 1981, the band released their first full-length album, 'End of the World'. Partially mixed by The dB's' Chris Stamey, the album caught the attention of critic Robert Christgau, who managed to talk them up enough to get them a single release in the U.K. on Rough Trade. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Label: Mofungo Music – none
Format:
Cassette, Album
Country: US
Released: 1981
Style: Avantgarde, Jazz-Rock, Art Rock, No Wave, Art Punk, Minimal Wave
Tracklist:
A1 End Of The World
A2 Scratch House
A3 El Salvador
A4 Just The Way
A5 War Song
A6 Little Giant
A7 Mo He Ganga
B1 Why Do You Spy?
B2 Boss Alligator
B3 Lately Human
B4 Jelloback Jack
B5 River Of Blood
B6 10-4, 10-4
B7 Monster Mascot
Notes:
A1-A4 First recording session - 4 track recording by Carol Parkinson in our practice space, March 1981.
A5-A7 Third recording session - 4 track recording by Carol Parkinson in our practice space, July 1981.
B1-B3 Second recording session at Dick Connette's studio by Carol Parkinson and Chris Nelson, June 1981.
B4-B5 Cassette recording, August 11, 1981.
B6 Noise Festival - 4 track recording by Ann DeMarinas at White Columns Gallery, June 1981.
To many the band Last Few Days is just a complete mystery or simply some group who toured with Laibach and then promptly disappeared soon afterwards. This is not particularly surprising for a band that consciously left little mark during their existence. They were a band that deliberately avoided releasing their material and kept a limit on their live performances, they also had a very low profile though it was increased briefly after the Laibach collaborations. Most people attending their concerts had little very idea who they were, simply enticed along by the ambiguous posters or simply a night out. The concerts themselves bizarrely lasting all through the night (with a mixture of music and movies), still going at 7AM and not quite easiest sort music to be listening too either. They made heavy use of megaphones, guitars often played with broken bottles, drum unrelenting and brutal, delivering rather harsh and bewildering but occasionally rhythmic apocalyptic music.
The three main members of Last Few Days were Daniel Landin (aka D. Styme), Si Joyce (aka Si Gross) and Keir Wahid (aka K. Warhead & and K. Fraser). They were regularly helped out by Fritz Haaman (aka Fritz Catlin) who also performed with Laibach during the joint tour, and occasionally by Sam Mills, both members of 23 Skidoo.
Last Few Days returned as a pop outfit in 1990, with a core of Keir and Si.
Label: Galerija ŠKUC Izdaja – none
Format:
Cassette
Country: Yugoslavia
Released: Apr 1983
Style: Industrial, Dark Ambient
Tracklist:
A1 Laibach – Panorama I
A2 Laibach – Cari Amici
A3 Laibach – Jaruzelsky
A4 Laibach – Zmagoslavje Volje
A5 Laibach – Smrt Za Smrt
A6 Laibach – Država
A7 Laibach – Panorama II
B1 Last Few Days – Polar Vision
4:21
B2 Last Few Days – I Lie 3:50
B3 Last Few Days – F1. Redemption
7:47
B4 Last Few Days – Blind Knives
3:16
B5 Last Few Days – Solemn Warnings 2:46
Notes:
Tracks A1 to A7 recorded at Studio Metro/RŠ 1982/83.
Tracks B1 and B4 recorded at Western Works May 1982.
Track B2 recorded in Greenwich Tunnel (Beneath the River Thames) November 1982.
Track B3 recorded at The Final Academy October 1982.
Track B5 recorded at The Death Factory February 1983.
Recorded at RŠ (Radio Študent) 1983, print run: 400 copies.
Kinetic Ideals was a Canadian new wave band from Mississauga, Ontario. They released one single and three EPs on the Mannequin record label, formed by Paul Abrahams, manager of the new romantic group Spoons.
In 1981 they issued the five-track EP, 'Reason', that established the sound they became known for, a moodier post-Joy Division groove that fit with other locals like Sheep Look Up and Breeding Ground. Brett Wickens was by now working for Peter Saville Associates in England, and designed an angular modernist cover in the mold of early New Order releases.
This combination of compelling music, improved production and visual design garnered the band critical acclaim. Mike Rullman (vocals), Jean-Claude Chambers (guitars), Alan Murrell (bass) and Jon Davies (drums) found themselves opening for visiting bands including Teardrop Explodes, The Stranglers and Gang of Four. The song "Animalistic" topped the dance-club charts in Toronto in 1981, and was a live favourite.
[SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]
Jon Rose is a highly versatile violin player despite the fact that that tends to be forgotten. A maverick, subversive character and one of the most colorful artists in new music, Rose is mostly known for his many experimental radio dramas, conceptual stage pieces, deconstructed/reinvented string instruments, and a wicked sense of humor. Most of his works are threaded with cross-thematic elements (in a way that strongly recalls Frank Zappa's own "conceptual continuity") that elaborate a revision of violin history. Rose is also an active free improviser with groups in Australia and Germany.
Rose grew up in England. He studied the violin from age seven until 15, at which point he turned his back on formal music education. He began to play professionally at the beginning of the 1970s and spent most of the decade taking up every gig offered to him. He performed rock, country, jazz, and contemporary music, and even made commercial session work. This contact with the popular repertoire of each genre allowed him to absorb every trademark lick, every cliché that would later feed his John Zorn-like stylistic jump-around compositional technique. Halfway through the 1970s, Rose moved to Australia. He soon became a catalyst for the burgeoning avant-garde scene and recorded his first albums there for the label Fringe Benefit.
By 1985, Rose moved to Berlin. In the course of the next few years, his art literally blossomed. Before he left, he had delivered to the ABC (the Australian state radio) a 90-minute series entitled "The Anatomy of the Violin," but it is in Berlin where he developed his very peculiar sense of humor, style juxtaposition, and historical fraud in a series of hörspiels. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Tracks A1, A5b, B3 & B5 come from a Radio Hörspiel "Paganini And The Reverend Ike". Track B7 mixed in Australia. The Other pieces were recorded live at concerts or sessions in Berlin, January 1987.
Inertia was a Douglas Benford (aka Media Form, Radial Blend, Si-{cut}.db and Sidecut>>db) project. This is the sound of alienated youth, sick of the rock trip, finding their way in a new world of endless possibilities. Their best work was to come, but this is a charming moment in the birth pangs of minimal electronic pop, played by fingers not computers. Incredibly stripped down minimal synth that somehow captures your attention. Highly recommended for the 80's minimal synth collectors.
H.N.A.S. (Hirsche Nicht Aufs Sofa) was founded by Achim P. Li Khan and Christoph Heemann in 1983. H.N.A.S.'s sound experimentation started in 1984 with a series of limited cassettes made for demonstration purpose or personal use. Their first LP release was 'Abwassermusik' in 1985 (together with german experimental band Mieses Gegonge). The group then recorded 'Melchior' with Steven Stapleton, released on the United Dairies label the following year. Subsequent H.N.A.S. releases were mainly on their own Dom label.
Label: Dom – DOM 77-21
Format:
Cassette, Album, C60
Country: Germany
Released: 1986
Style: Experimental, Industrial
Tracklist:
A Paradoxa Und Geheime Wissenschaften Dieser Welt
B1 Bärenklammer
B2 Macht Der Glaube Krank?
B3 Ewige Verwirrung (Alternativer Mix)
Notes:
A recorded live in Kalterherberg, BRD 8/12/84
B3 is an alternate mix of a track that appears on the LP 'Küttel Im Frost'
Güler was a Dutch band from the Nijmegen scene that released only one album. Most of the band members previously played in other bands. Hans Hermes played in Das Wesen, Laszlo Panyigay in Mekanik Kommando and Ties van der Linden in Vice. Huub Dols, the fourth band member, would later form Ulanbator with the latter two. So you can hear a solid album, produced by Panyigay. Although the new wave in the second half of the 80s was largely taken over by the more polished New Romantic, this band has a sound that fits the early 80s.
The opener cuts right in. "Kiss Me" is a slightly hysterical uptempo song, which immediately makes it clear that this is not music to sit still to. In the music you can hear gothic rock influences, a bit in the direction of Bauhaus. PIL also briefly pops, which will also have to do with the somewhat drawling way of singing in this song. "The Ravens" has nice stirring rhythms, which provide a catchy drive in the song. The combination with a screeching guitar sound, including weird tomfoolery and a conjuring monotonous vocal, make it perfect to fill the dance floor with crazy dancing wave freaks. The quite dark tinged sound in "Gök" has something mysterious and could easily be placed under the heading of gothic rock. Certainly the vocals also contribute to this, they have a pinch of Eldritch (Sisters of Mercy).
The drum sound of "Little Boy" was surely inspired by Joy Division's "She's Lost Control," otherwise, it looks absolutely nothing like it. Güler is definitely not a copycat. Occasionally you recognize some possible influences, which is only natural, here again Bauhaus, for example. All in all, it's a nice uplifting song.
"Princess Parade" also has a bit of that static drum sound á la "She's Lost Control" and a touch of Stranglers, but that will mainly be because the sound of organ distorting notes, similar to The Stranglers' 'Nice 'N' Sleazy'. Together with the freaky saxophone playing, the song takes on something chaotic, though it remains a well-organized whole.
"Men and Women" stands out a bit dull compared to the rest. There is therefore quite a contrast with the song that follows, "I Threw It Out". Here a blissful fat sound is put down. Dark and ominous it sounds. Maybe the best of this record, but that remains taste and the rest is also just very different. With this song, think along the lines of Wire's "A Touching Display". Yep, this is the level and sound Güler manages to get pretty close to. What do you want to hear after the previous song? It could have been a closing track. Güler thinks otherwise and throws in another vague trip with the song "Thrilling Me". It's a bit like the eponymous closing track from The Cure's 'Pornography' album, but a little less dark. And so this fine discovery comes to an end. An unknown record of extraordinary class. [SOURCE: NEW WAVE & POST-PUNK REVIEWS]
Label: Akzidanz – AKZI 5
Format:
Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: Netherlands
Released: 1987
Style: Post-Punk, Experimental. Goth Rock, Coldwave, Anatolian Rock
Faith. No Man. was formed in late 1982 by Mike "The Man" Morris, Billy Gould, Wade Worthington and Mike Bordin. The band had already been around for nearly a year, and had released a demo tape, under the original name Sharp Young Men. The name Faith. No Man. was a shortened, punctuated version of "Faith In No Man". They recorded a two-song 7" single which was released in the spring of 1983. After the songs were recorded, but before the vinyl was released, keyboardist Wade Worthington left the band and was replaced by Roddy Bottum. In the late August/September 1983 Billy, Mike and Roddy quit the band as a strike out against Mike Morris, since he was the founding member of the band and could not be kicked out. The three of them then reformed as Faith. No More. (later punctuated as Faith No More, to accentuate the fact that "The Man" (Mike Morris) was "no more" part of the band. Faith No More played their first show in early October 1983.
Their only single sounds quite like the first Faith No More album. The all-pervading synth lines are already there, as the jerky, percussive drum'n'bass section and the stark and the mildly psychotic mood. On the mike Mike Morris reminds a little of Jello Biafra. Really not bad. Of course, the whole thing is even rougher than the earliest Faith No More stuff, but that ain't a bad thing. "Song of Liberty" is a real cool song with a lovely bass. [SOURCE: RATE YOUR MUSIC]
Label: Ministry Of Propaganda Records – FNM1
Format:
Vinyl, 7", 33 ⅓ RPM, 45 RPM
Country: US
Released: 1983
Style: New Wave, Avantgarde, Post-Punk, Goth Rock, Coldwave
Europeans (sometimes referred to as "The Europeans") were a British new wave group formed in 1981 and disbanded in 1985. They released two studio albums and one live album, none of which achieved much in terms of chart position. In 1989, their former keyboard player and co-lead vocalist Steve Hogarth joined Marillion as lead vocalist.
'Vocabulary' is an excellent, powerful, new-wavey, pop-ish art-rock album. very musical and very entertaining without being shallow or banal. Excellent musicians who enjoy what they do are at play. Stand out tracks are "Innocence" and "Spirit Of Youth". Moods and sounds are rich, complex and diverse. Ferg Harper's vocals add a special note as well as Geoff Dugmore's serious drumming does. The production on all tracks is tight, robust but also "airy", meaning, there's a kind of effortlessness immanent that gives room for the drive and discipline the band manages to maintain the whole album through. [SOURCE: DISCOGS]
Distrito 5 were a group from Barcelona formed in 1979. Between 1980 and 1981 they were part of what was called the Catalan Circuit, playing in all the most famous clubs of the time, such as Zeleste, Magic, or Karma. In April 1980 they were the support band in a Iggy Pop's show and in December of the same year they playd opening for The B-52's.
During 1981 they played several shows in cities like Granollers, Manresa, Sabadell and Girona.
The band was formed by Patricia García (vocals), Pilar Morral (vocals), Sergio Ortiz (vocals), Álvaro Martínez (guitar), Javier Vidal "Vidi" (guitar), Tito Villalonga (bass) and Alberto Carreras (drums). In 1982, with the release of their first record, the 12" maxi-single 'Cafetosis / Suburbio', they enter into the national scene, and began to be invited on radio and TV music shows, as well as playing in La Noche del Rock, a festival organized at the Salón Cibeles in Barcelona in February 1982. [SOURCE: GRUPOS NACIONALES NUEVA OLA 80]
Formed in Rochester (NY) in 1986, Claude Raines only released this eponymous album before disbanding. The members of the band were Jeff Gulino (guitar), Mark Mastrella (drums), Will Young (bass) and Cedric Herrera (vocals, acoustic guitar), also the singer of Red Violet Red, the band that preceded Eleven Pond. The closest touchstones for this 1987 LP include The Church, The Chameleons, Psychedelic Furs, and The Snake Corps, but with a big guitar-driven fuzzy sound. After Claude Raines, Cedric Herrera formed the short-lived dance project Pitch Black, releasing the 12" 'Suspiria / Renee' in 1990.
