Nico Fidenco - Zombie Holocaust

Mannequin Records is elated to present a selection of the killer “Zombi Holocaust” soundtrack by Nico Fidenco, remixed by Mannequin Records boss Alessandro Adriani on the B side.

‘Zombi Holocaust‘ movie is another slice of Italian zombie craziness for the late 70’s/early 1980s. The film, released in 1979, was directed by Marino Girolami, and starred Italian zombie favorite Ian McCulloch.

In contrast to the sleazy and gory action on the screen, the soundtrack of the maestro Nico Fidenco is a thing of beauty and great depth, with captivating musicianship on display. The soundtrack is a rich blend of electronic/synthesizer tracks, experimental electronics, soaring acoustic and orchestral numbers with tinges of Spaghetti Western soundtracks, frenetic drumming coupled with woodwind instruments, and chants and manipulated wordless vocals. This eclectic blend is skillfully woven together to create a soundtrack that is unique, richly textured, and one that can stand side by side with the best works of other great Italian soundtrack composers.

The selection of the tracks was following a particular path, where dark synthesizers, drones and slow burning electronic beats have a voice in. Alessandro Adriani used to play often tracks out of the soundtrack in his dj sets, as it manages to sound totally modern, so it was totally natural for him to rework “The Magic Is In Progress”, now transformed in a whole B-side 10 minutes dancefloor acid/ebm ride. TIP!

Listen and order here.

Posted on February 27th, 2016 under Releases,

Keep Banging The Keys - A Compilation of Synth & Organ Driven Music

First off we wanted to drop some free music for everyone! Below you will find the steaming version of “Keep Banging The Keys” a 20 song collection of Synth & Organ driven music from Current, Future, and Past Releases on FDH. Listen below then hop over to FDH Records to download it for free. All we ask is you help spread the word about this free music!

Posted on February 25th, 2016 under Releases,

Maman Küster - Sous La Peau De Maman Küsters

MAMAN KÜSTERS is a (French) duo from Brest (in Brittany) consisting of Gaël Loison (also in Dale Cooper Quartet & the Dictaphones) and Cyril Pansal (HF90 & PanMe). Cyril also collaborated via his HF90 project on the re-edition of Etienne Daho’s ‘Mythomane’.

Their first album “Sous la Peau de Maman Küsters” (“Under Maman Küster’s Skin”), January 2016 (Unknown Pleasures), is scandalously rough and proud.

It features a plethora of instruments mistreated as though D.A.F. or Kraftwerk high on meth and plutonium had stuck their fingers in a socket and started messing around.

The album, a shocking mutation of Chernobyl radioactivity mixed with analog synthesis of Liaisons Dangereuses, Front 242 and DAF, is destined to achieve cult status in the alternative underworld. The brilliant phrasing and lyrics remind us of the pissed musings of Serge Gainsbourg and Alain Bashung.

This is a celebration of adventure, accident and the dark novel. It’s a surprising, haunting exploration of talent and a madness underlying Dadaism. Without doubt, the finest French album of the year in this music genre.

Limited digipak edition of 300.

Posted on February 23rd, 2016 under Releases, ,

Follow Me Not - Nothing Comes With A Smile

Shoegaze/ Pop Rock/ Post Punk french one man project in the vein of The Jesus & The Mary Chain, early The Cure, Love & Rockets, The Sound, Sad Lovers & Giant, Asylum Party, Mary Goes Round or Little Nemo.

Limited digipak edition of 300.

Posted on February 21st, 2016 under Releases, ,

Lakes - Arms in Twilight

Modern science sneers at the notion As above, so below. Nothing could be more wrong, we are told. The tiers are all completely different, and the depths of the sea and the vastness of space couldn’t be more alien to one another.

Even in the case of the only viable exception, the truly universal force of gravity, we learn that its influence is slight: the gravity of an orange on a nearby table affects you more than that of the massive planet Jupiter above.

Yet, all is not gravity. Jupiter sizzles and crackles with electromagnetic activity and cuts swaths of radio bursts towards Earth, like some celestial lighthouse gone haywire. Sheets of current dance an eerie, spectral dance between the major bodies of the solar system, great inductors and conductors, including the Sun, the Moon and the Earth itself.

What all this activity means is, of course, as puzzling as ever. The scientists of today are as addlepated as the alchemists and astrologers of old. Probably even more so. We stand, as did Heraclitus the Obscure, in almost perpetual twilight.

We need to grab onto these fickle strands of dying light. We need to embrace The Arms in Twilight.

The medeival philosophers were right. Man is the center of the universe. We stand in the middle of infinity, between outer and inner space. And there’s no limit to either. — Fantastic Voyage, 1967.

And complete darkness is not upon us just yet. Fend off our mundane modern-day mythology by grabbing a copy of the beautiful, murky, foreboding album Arms in Twilight.

Listen and download here.

Posted on February 19th, 2016 under Uncategorized, ,