Beläten: Alvar – Deceivers

Alvar - Deceivers

Det Stora Alvaret is a particularly barren plain situated on Öland off the eastcoast of Sweden, from which arid soils the mysterious spectre of Alvar has risen.

On Deceivers, the duo’s debut, we’re treated to some grade a horror electronics, formed by equal measures of hook-laden minimal synth and arafna cultura steeped technoire. Add a healthy does of the windswept gloom endemic to these parts of Sweden, and you get this: seriously apocal-hypnotic dance music, guaranteed to leave you dancing all the way to Ragnarök.

Listen and order here.

Posted on July 27th, 2015 under Releases, ,

Creme Organization: Marcos Cabral – The Conversation EP

Marcos Cabral - The Conversation EP

Next up on Creme Organization is accomplished American producer Marcos Cabral. He has been known to make everything from abrasive noise to disco edits via all sorts of house and techno on labels like L.I.E.S. and The Trilogy Tapes (as the noisy Chemotex). Once again the New Yorker impresses here with another original offering featuring four standout tracks.

Up first is the slow and slithering techno workout that is ‘Nearly Run Over’. With frazzled synths and plenty of beeps, it’s a real brain fryer. ‘Jumping Beans’ is another all analogue work out with loopy sine waves, distorted percussion and nasty drums that all come at you through a wall of fuzzy, broken and whirring machines. It’s dystopian music for hellishly dark back rooms before ‘Man’s Job’ gets a little more colourful. This one sounds like a burnt down disco track with distant synth patterns and metallic drums all fighting for your attention in a lurching fashion, then ‘The Conversation’ is the most upbeat of them all but is still a whacked out, degraded and compressed house tune with undulating synths and frosty percussion. Few people do damaged sounding tracks as well as this man and this EP highlights that fact once again.

Listen and order here.

Posted on July 25th, 2015 under Releases, ,

Medical Records: Synesthesia – The First Five Years

Synesthesia - The First Five Years

Medical Records is celebrating it’s 5 year anniversary as well as 50th release! Medical Records was founded sometime in 2007/2008 but released it’s first double header of reissues in May 2010 with the (at the time) little known Deutsche Wertarbeit (MR-001) and the first album by famed Italo/synthpop guru Alexander Robotnick (MR-002). Since the beginning, Medical has pledged to bring back long out of print and lost new wave, synth, and disco LPs from the 70s and 80s. With an emphasis on high quality heavy vinyl (with a dizzying array of colored wax), these essential records have been made available again at a reasonable price for collectors and new fans to cherish once again. Over time, we expanded our palette to include new artists with a similar aesthetic to our vision as well as crucial 90s reissues in the shoegaze and other unclassifiable genres.

With collaborations with Crispy Nuggets, Light In The Attic, and Portland’s 2010 Records, the back catalog of releases have spanned much ground. For this 50th release (MR-050), we have chosen to release our first retrospective with a twist. This double LP features a hand-picked selection of tracks intended to highlight our past reissues on the first 3 sides. Featuring such standouts as Lou Champagne System, Tony Carey, Gay Cat Park, and many more, it is a very nice representative collection. The 4th side of the double LP is a unique collection of our new (contemporary) artists performing specially selected cover versions of tracks featured on our past reissues. Examples include the sultry “We R” performed by Roladex (originally by Chrisma on “Hibernation”) and “Click” performed by Kline Coma Xero (originally by Disco Volante).

This collection will surely be a treat for the fans who have been following our evolution over time and will especially prove to be a staple in anyone’s collection who would like some of our reissued hits on one concise compilation. All reissue tracks and new tracks have received additional remastering and mastering (the new tracks) by Martin Bowes at the Cage Studios, UK. This collection will appeal to aforementioned lovers/collectors of rare new wave, private press synth, cosmic/italo disco, vinyl djs, and many more!

This double LP is housed in a specially designed gatefold heavy sleeve featuring the Medical logo in a “color blindness test” on the front with the gatefold filled with thumbnails of all 50 past releases. Presented on high-quality 160gram colored vinyl.

Listen and order here.

Posted on July 23rd, 2015 under Releases,

Medical Records: U/V Light – Cenotaph

U/V Light - Cenotaph

Medical Records is very pleased to present the debut album by U/V Light. U/V Light sounds more than a bit like Cloudland Canyon at times. This is because it is the first “solo,” effort from Kip Uhlhorn of CC. Kip played, sang on, engineered, mixed, and collaborated with Gabby Weiss on this new recording. Eschewing standard German comparisons that CC usually receives, U/V LIGHT often sounds like either early electro or dance-pop but without the typical blueprint so commonly replicated these days. Kip’s rockist tendencies make this recording more interesting and fresher than those usual reference points. However, after Gabby’s vocals kick in, some of the band’s influences can be discerned such as Desire, or Uffie fuzed with Sylvester, Bobby O, Jonzun Crew, Space “Magic Fly”, etc. One could also draw some comparisons to Primal Scream’s “Screamadelica”, Seefeel, or Craig Leon at times. Despite hints at motorik tempos and/or beats., U/V Light is more of a pop affair. It is also not a simple continuation of Cloudland Canyon. Dance-pop seems the clearest reference point here, but Cenotaph does not have a standard dance beat feel.

Recorded quickly, the record has a consistent sonic approach that makes individual tracks sound like a suite of songs. God no, it is not a rock opera, but it has a singular sonic identity which makes it differ from previous Cloudland outings. Enough comparisons already, U/V Light’s Cenotaph mostly equates to a Kip Uhlhorn solo recording. Influences are felt, but they don’t dominate here. Sometimes a hybrid like this one is not easily categorized. If you like Cloudland Canyon then you will most likely enjoy Cenotaph. Or even if you do not prefer them (or have never even heard of them for that matter), this recording stands on its own. Six propulsive tracks ebb and flow with a continuous feel that takes the listener down a hypnotic wormhole.

This album was recorded using impressive arsenal of vintage analog synths as well as modern modular equipment. For fans of aforementioned influences as well as others (Grosskopf, Schultze, Slowdive) and especially those who enjoyed the most recent of the Cloudland Canyon 12” series. Mastered by Martin Bowes at the Cage Studios, UK. Presented on high-quality 180gram heavyweight colored vinyl.

Listen and order here.

Posted on July 21st, 2015 under Releases, ,

Swiss Dark Nights: Geometric Vision – Dream (2nd press)

Geometric Vision - Dream

Geometric Vision Is a band formed by A.Giordano. He starts composing songs and lyrics reflecting dark and nostalgic atmospheres typical of dark and cold wave but with a modern attitude which draws inspiration from contemporaneous berlin’s and British minimal synth experiments.

After a while he decides to create a real band which takes more substantial form after having experienced several line up changes… With Gennaro Campanile playing bass guitar and Roberto Amato on guitar everything seems to work out.

Listen and order here.

Posted on July 19th, 2015 under Releases, ,