Model Citizens – Shift The Blame [7''] (1979, Spy Records Ltd.)

 

Largely unknown New York new wave group that spun off some important bands when they split into The Dance and Polyrock, and a side project of The Dance backing 12 year old Chandra. John Cale produced the 'Shift The Blame' EP after he lost out on the chance to produce Television to Brian Eno. Model Citizens and its offshoots reflect an awareness of NY's minimalists -Cale played with La Monte Young's early Dream Syndicate, and Philip Glass went on to produce Polyrock. One of the highlights of the band is Eugenie Diserio's voice. There's a repetitive keyboard groove to these bands that hints at Glass and a slight dissonance but danceable groove that makes them sound fresh over 40 years later. 

 

Label: Spy Records Ltd. – SPY 004 

Format: Vinyl, 7", 33 ⅓ RPM, EP, Styrene 

Country: US 

Released: 1979 

Style: New Wave, No Wave, Post-Punk, Art Punk, Zolo

 

Tracklist: 

A1 Shift The Blame 

A2 Animal Instincts 

B1 I Am Honest 

B2 You Are What You Wear 

 

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Luis Mesa – Aibre [Cass] (1986, IEP)

Luis Mesa is a Spanish electronic pioneer now disappeared from the scene, he was a true precursor of noise. He published his first cassette in 1983 at the same time that he founded his record label IEP (Investigaciones Estudios y Proyectos). He began in the eighties with groups like Esplendor Geométrico, Macromassa, La Otra Cara de un Jardín... He recorded with other pseudonyms such as Merz, Recursos Ajenos and Bercomice. [SOURCE: SOMN ARCHIVE] 

 

Label: IEP – IEP 104 

Format: Cassette, Numbered, C60 

Country: Spain 

Released: 1986 

Style: Industrial, Ambient, Sound Collage

 

Tracklist: 

A Un Momento Vacio 

B Historia Del Ocultismo 

 

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Kuruki – Such A Liar [12''] (1981, Money)

 

Kuruki was almost a solo project, by Ghent-based musician Gerry D'Haeyer. The single 'Crocodile Tears', printed in 1981, was fun and interesting, a one hit wonder. Then followed three 12" ('Such A Liar', 'Action' and 'Souvenir, Souvenir') and 'Just A Cat' in 1983, which was recorded with Alan Gevaert and Chris Whitley of A Noh Rodeo, and a full-length album in 1984, 'TV Scape'. Gerry D'Haeyer later went on to play drums with blues musician Roland Van Campenhout.

 

 

Label: Money – MR 997 

Format: Vinyl, 12", 45 RPM 

Country: Belgium 

Released: 1981 

Style: Synth-pop, Minimal, Minimal Synth

 

Tracklist: 

A1 Such A Liar 4:40 

A2 Crocodile Tears 4:37 

B Yack Yack 5:14 

 

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Jad Fair – Everyone Knew...But Me [LP] (1983, Press Records)

 

Early, more extreme Jad Fair. His singing is surrounded by metallic clattering and only the barest concessions to traditional pop song forms. The songs tend to be about love and, uh, love, but the rather limited narratives in no way detract from what is a mostly wonderful listening experience. Although this is an accurate portrait of what Jad was up to at the time, it's recommended for adventure seekers, noise-pop fans, and those who unequivocally loved the first two Half Japanese records. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC] 

 

 

Label: Press Records – P 4005 

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album 

Country: US 

Released: 1983 

Style: Alternative Rock, Lo-Fi, Experimental Rock, Slacker Rock, Sound Collage

 

Tracklist:

A1 Love Research 

A2 Girl Trouble 

A3 I'm Going To Go Out 

A4 Jambalaya 

A5 I'm Gonna Come Back To You 

A6 Amy 

A7 Walking With Cindy 

A8 Everyone Knew...But Me 

A9 Fish Can Talk 

A10 All My Love 

A11 I Got You 

A12 Another Silent Night 

A13 Things With Eyes 

A14 Oh 

A15 Amy You Went Away 

A16 Mil Mascaras 

A17 I Want To Be Loved 

B1 Monster Island 

B2 Sex Machine 

B3 I 

B4 Will You Go With Me? 

B5 Snake On My Head 

B6 Want 

B7 Roses For Karen 

B8 You 

B9 It Saw Me 

B10 Lonely Week-Ends 

B11 Back 

B12 Again 

 

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Ism – Attack (For Beginners Only) / Queen J.A.P [7''] (1980, S.I.N. Records)

 

Ism were a punk rock / hardcore group from Bayside, Queens, N.Y.C.. The band was originally a concept by manager and producer Bob Sallese and lead singer Jism. This was the first Ism single that came out in 1980. Apparently, the b-side, “Queen Jap” was a hit on the Dr. Demento radio show. The song was a spoof of the Steve Martin song, “King Tut”. The A-side, showed hints of what Ism would become. It was more new-wavey than what followed. After this single, they did their infamous cover of “I Think I Love You” and then their equally great 'A Diet for the Worms' LP. After that, the singer, Jism, must have gotten bored of hardcore because the Ism records that followed were all pretty much standard fare rock records. While not at all bad, they never captured the greatness of the early stuff. [SOURCE: THE PUNK VAULT] 

 

 

Label: S.I.N. Records – Original S.I.N. #1 

Format: Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM, Single 

Country: US 

Released: 1980 

Style: Punk, Hardcore Punk, Punk Rock

 

Tracklist: 

A Attack (For Beginners Only) 1:56 

B Queen J.A.P 2:28 

 

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Hessel – Radio Times [Cass] (1991, Exart)

Hessel Veldman was born in 1956 in IJmuiden, Noord-Holland, Netherlands. Member of FNTC, Gorgonzola Legs, Portable Vaudeville and Y Create, was also co-founder of Exart with Nick Nicole in October 1982. In 1978 Hessel had started composing experimental music and before 1978 he was playing guitar in several local blues and rock bands. The label wanted to spread new experimental and improvised music. The studio was the place to improvise, compose, record and make radio-programmes, mixes and remixes. At the same time Veldman started to preserve sounds in the Exart archive. The label ended its activities in 1995, although there are rumours that Veldman had plans to do digitalized reissues of some of the releases. 

 

Label: Exart – EA037 

Format: Cassette

Country: Netherlands 

Released: 1991 

Style: Experimental 

 

Tracklist: 

A Radio One 

B Radio Two 

 

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Great British Heroes – Eric Miller [7''] (1979, Lightning Records)

Great British Heroes was a Punk Rock band from London. What separates the group from countless other recording / gigging bands of the period is that they are responsible for one of the rarest UK Punk records: this single was cancelled before pressing and for now there's one or two known copies. The A-side "Eric Miller" (inspired by the story of a businessman who committed suicide while under investigation by the fraud squad) is the stand-out number: a wild three-chorder not too far removed from The Leyton Buzzards’ "19 and Mad", only better. The flipside "Dont' Give a Damn" is a stereotypical 1977 Punker which clocks in at under two minutes and offers in raw energy more than what it lacks in inventiveness. A recommended single, and, with even Great British Heroes themselves having been previously unaware of its existence, impossibly rare. [SOURCE: BORED TEENAGERS]

 

Label: Lightning Records – GIL 538 

Format: Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM, Single 

Country: UK 

Released: 1979 

Style: Punk, Punk Rock

 

Tracklist: 

A Eric Miller 

B Don't Give A Damn 

 

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Furniture ‎– The Lovemongers [LP] (1986, Premonition Records)

The British pop band Furniture was founded in London in 1981 by vocalist Jim Irvin, guitarist/pianist Tim Whelan and drummer Hamilton Lee. A 1983 self-financed EP, 'The Boom Was On', won the trio a contract with the Survival label, and after swelling to a five-piece with the additions of bassist Sally Still and keyboardist Maya Gilder, they began issuing a string of singles, later collected as the LP 'The Lovemongers', a self-consciously retro blend of jazz, funk, soul, ballroom, put together with a punk, in-your-face, do-it-yourself sensibility. From the post-punk nihilism of the title track, through the funky "Throw Away the Script" to the characteristic uncontrolled emotionalism of Whelan's singing on "I Can't Crack", there are elements of misjudgement and downright naffness, but that only increases its charm -a real record made by real people, and thus the perfect antidote to airbrushed, manufactured pop. [SOURCE: RATE YOUR MUSIC] 

 

Label: Premonition Records – PREM 6 

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album 

Country: UK 

Released: 1986 

Style: New Wave, Art Pop, Sophisti-Pop

 

Tracklist: 

A1 The Lovemongers 2:56 

A2 Throw Away The Script 4:27 

A3 Love Your Shoes 3:36 

A4 Escape Into My Arms 4:17 

A5 What The Fog Said 5:20 

B1 Dancing The Hard Bargain 3:55 

B2 Bullet 5:10 

B3 Talking Kitten 3:54 

B4 Sang Froid 5:25 

B5 I Can't Crack 4:14 

 

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Error Genético – 1981 / 1983 [Cass] (1985, Grand Mal Edicions)

Error Genético was an oddball Spanish outfit who dabble in multi-layered sound, wild Pigbag style brass excursions and recurring bass drones, formed in Barcelona in 1981, and disbanded in 1983. Members were Mireia Tejero (saxophone, vocals, later in New Buildings), Gat (bass, ex-Ultratruita and later in New Buildings and Raeo, here with Anton Ignorant and Mark Cunningham), Marcel·lí Antúnez Roca and Paloma Loring (guitar, vocals). They only released this tape on the Grand Mal Edicions label.

 

 

Label: Grand Mal Edicions – none 

Format: Cassette 

Country: Spain 

Released: 1985 

Style: Experimental 

 

Tracklist: 

A1 Porcs 

A2 A 

A3 Minuto 

A4 Moro 

A5 Tumor En La Frente 

A6 Lineal 

A7 Llorito 

B1 Gregorobius 

B2 Caida 

B3 Minuto 

B4 Tumor Turmix 

B5 Live Aja 

B5.1 Tumor 

B5.2 Nenitos 

B5.3 A 

 

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Die Sonne Satan – Fac-Totum [Cass] (1993, Slaughter Productions)

Die Sonne Satan (real name Paolo Beltrame) is an Italian dark ambient project. The Latin title "Fac- Totum" invites us: "Do Everything". For a long time (A1-A6) sounds of anxiety and depression eat up insecure lonely souls with electronic knives, forks and spoons, repetitive chewing on a plate made of dark, drony and spacy ambient. That's hardly suitable for the next children birthday party. With section B1 the meal seams to be finished and slowly the after lunch grogginess is starting, supported by an adaptation of "Le Mystere Des Voix Bulgare" in sequence B2. And than, maybe for the dinner walk, under a black sun a short time the dance floor is opened, before in the end you are guest during an underwater birth of the next little black star. The recipe how to cook poor souls. [SOURCE: RATE YOUR MUSIC] 

 

Label: Slaughter Productions – T. 07 

Format: Cassette, Album, C60 

Country: Italy 

Released: 1993 

Style: Dark Ambient, Experimental, Industrial, Dungeon Synth

 

Tracklist: 

A1 Razor Cut 2:27 

A2 Regerminated 1 (Airport Music) 6:18 

A3 Regerminated 2 (Knife Dance) 5:16 

A4 Radiation 4:50 

A5 Res Inferna 3:53 

A6 Shadows From The Past 3:19 

B1 Purity 5:01 

B2 Dismal Chant 5:52 

B3 Hic Cum Apostuli Sui (Experiment In Pop) 4:21 

B4 A Cosmic Mantra (Birth Of A Star) 9:21 

 

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Chumbawamba – Another Year Of The Same Old Shit [Cass] (1984, Sky & Trees)

Chumbawamba were an English rock band, that formed in 1982 and disbanded in 2012. The band drew on genres such as punk rock, pop, and folk. Their anarcho-communist political leanings led them to have an irreverent attitude toward authority, and to espouse a variety of political and social causes including animal rights and pacifism (early in their career) and later regarding class struggle, Marxism, feminism, gay liberation, pop culture, and anti-fascism. The band are best known for their song "Tubthumping", which was nominated for Best British Single at the 1998 Brit Awards. 

Chumbawamba formed in Burnley in 1982 with an initial line-up of Allan "Boff" Whalley, Danbert Nobacon (born Nigel Hunter), Midge and Tomi, all four previously members of the band Chimp Eats Banana, shortly afterwards joined by Lou Watts. The band made their live debut in January 1982. Their first vinyl release was a track ("Three Years Later") on the Crass Records compilation album 'Bullshit Detector 2'. They were initially inspired musically by bands as diverse as The Fall, PiL, Wire and Adam and the Ants, and politically by the anarchist stance of Crass. Another of the band's early releases was under the name "Skin Disease", parodying the Oi! bands of the time so successfully that they were included on 'Back On The Streets', an Oi! compilation EP put together by Sounds magazine journalist Garry Bushell.By the end of 1982, the band had expanded to include Alice Nutter (of Ow My Hair's on Fire), and Dunstan "Dunst" Bruce (of Men in a Suitcase) and were living in a squat in Armley, Leeds on Carr Crofts road, with Harry "Daz" Hamer and Mavis "Mave" Dillon joining soon after. 

 

Stalwarts of the cassette culture scene, the band released a number of tapes including 'Be Happy Despite It All' and 'Raising Heck With Chumbawamba', and were featured on many compilations. Chumbawamba were at the forefront of the 1980s anarcho-punk movement, frequently playing benefit gigs in squats and small halls for causes such as animal rights, the anti-war movement, and community groups. The band's collective political views are often described as anarchist. They made several songs about the UK miners' strike, including the cassette 'Common Ground' and a song dedicated to the pit village of Fitzwilliam, which was one of the worst cases of economic decline following the strike. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA] 

 

Label: Sky & Trees – #4 

Format: Cassette

Country: UK 

Released: 1984 

Style: Art Punk, Anarcho-Punk

 

Tracklist: 

A1 Body (Live) 

A2 Do Not Adjust Your Life 

A3 Baby Killers 

A4 Streets 

A5 Marching Round In Circles (Live) 

A6 Butterflies 

B1 Emi / Hmv 

B2 Rape 

B3 Storm 

B4 Menwith Hill (Live) 

B5 Someone Else 

B6 Rock 'n' Roles 

 

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Boris Dzaneck – III [Cass] (1984, Not On Label)

Boris Dzaneck are a minimal synth / post punk band from Utrecht, Netherlands formed by John Andringa (keyboards, vocals), Marcel Knijff (bass), Riks Ozinga [aka Rix] (guitar, vocals), Willem Proos (guitar), Joost Renders (drums), Guus van der Heijden (piano) and Ward van Groenland (organ) that released two albums: 'In His Own Words' (1983) and 'Always Is Now And Could Be Never Again' (1988) Catchy, bright guitar songs, melancholy ballads with a dark twist and pointed funky improvisations; The Cure meets Talking Heads and The Smiths, a reviewer once wrote. 

 

Label: Not On Label (Boris Dzaneck Self-released) – none 

Format: Cassette, C20 

Country: Netherlands 

Released: 1984 

Style: Minimal, Post-Punk, Synth-pop, Minimal Synth, Minimal Wave

 

Tracklist: 

A1 Garbage-Can 4:20 

A2 Images 2:47 

B1 White Heart 4:14 

B2 Thin Man 4:31 

 

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Alphaville – De Mascaras Y Enigmas [LP] (1983, DRO)

Alphaville were a Spanish 80s alternative rock group from Madrid and one of the great references of the darkest and most sinister post-punk aspect of the Spanish eighties scene with Décima Víctima, Parálisis Permanente, Agrimensor K, Desechables o V2 Berlín. 

 

Active from 1980 to 1986 with José Luis Fernández Abel (leader, ideologist, voice and guitar), José Luis Orfanel (solo guitar), Daniel Mendialdúa (bass), Juan Antonio Nieto (drums, percussion), and José Carlos "Charles" Sánchez (keyboards, trumpet, harmonica, violin), after the first EP recording, Daniel Mendialdúa was replaced on bass by Pablo Vega. Almudena "Jane" de Maetzu (La Mode) and Carmelo (La Decada Prodigiosa) also pass through the formation. 

 

In 1983 appears the first album titled 'De Mascaras y Enigmas' where its sound is definitely aimed of powerful and atmospheric guitars and suggestive keyboards. Their influences are of English groups like Joy Division or Echo & the Bunnymen but they are able to create a very distinctive style that deserves a more than acceptable criticism.

 

Label: DRO – DRO 037, DRO – D.R.O.-037 

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album 

Country: Spain 

Released: 1983 

Style: Darkwave, Post-Punk

 

Tracklist: 

A1 La Escalera 

A2 Desde El Fondo Del Espejo 

A3 Fúnebre Nupcial 

A4 Artaud (Le Mômo) 

B1 El Innombrable 

B2 Muerte En Venecia 

B3 Arrebato 

B4 Stregocia 

B5 Palacio De Invierno 

 

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