COSTAS ANDRIOPOULOS is well-known for his renowned 23rd Underpass project but has recorded numerous mainly instrumental pieces over the years which were only made public via his own YouTube channel. These songs showcase Costas’ craftsmanship in working with hardware and software synthesizers, creating his signature sound, a beautiful mix of melancholic electro pop, dark electro, futurepop, electronica, italo disco, minimal synth, with lots of sequencers and arpeggios, dreamy pads, space synth effects, blips and blops, and some sparse vocoder, vocal lines/slogans too. And one can clearly hear Costas’ influences too, especially that of Jean-Michel Jarre.
Nadanna has now compiled 22 of these tracks on two CDs with a running time of two and a half hours, and four further tracks available via download with a total running time of three hours. The tracks have been carefully arranged, cross-faded into each other and mastered by Martin Bowes to give the listener a relaxing listening atmosphere experience.
2xCD / Digital Album
Nadanna is proud and honoured to present TOBIAS BERNSTRUP’s 6th full-length studio album “Petrichor.”
Bernstrup who works both as a visual artist and musician has been touring worldwide since the late 1990s and he positioned himself as one of the leading re-inventors of Italo Disco with his unique mix of Italo, Synthpop and Gothic Noir. He has created his own unmistakable stage persona wearing androgynous outfits in shiny latex and heavy make-up. Tobias has collaborated with seminal artists such as Trans-X, Apoptygma Berzerk, Martial Canterel, Xeno & Oaklander, Lebanon Hanover, Hante. and She Past Away.
“Petrichor” contains 11 smashing tracks including the recent hit singles “Private Eye”, “Challenger”, “Stranger” and “Only One”. The album also features a Hi-NRG cover version of the Red 7 song “Heartbeat” known from Michael Mann’s 80’s cult movie Manhunter. As a matter of fact, Manhunter has left a lasting impression on Bernstrup with its unique and captivating atmosphere. If we had to describe “Petrichor” in one sentence it would be: A Film Noir in cold blue and pink light that you can dance to.
On the new album, Bernstrup revisits his musical and pop culture roots using classic 80’s synthesizers and drum sounds of the Oberheim DMX, LinnDrum with a modern sound production.
LP / CD
NADANNA proudly presents its new project, the Canadian synthpop act TECHNIQUES BERLIN! Formed in 1984 by high school buddies Andreas Gregor and David Rout, the band started experimenting with synthesizers, drum machines and guitars. In the early stages, TECHNIQUES BERLIN was heavily influenced by UK new romantic acts like Japan, Spandau Ballet, Visage, The Human League, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Yazoo and Depeche Mode as well as rising Canadian synthpop bands Rational Youth (Dave become a member in 1998/99), Men Without Hats and Trans-X. It took them a few years to master their electronic toys and create a unique blend of addictive electropop melodies and beautifully crafted alternative beats.
In the late 80s, TECHNIQUES BERLIN played live on a regular basis and their 3 cassettes, released on their own Bombshelter label, received frequent local airplay in Canada. Despite their moderate success, the band failed to secure a record deal. A&R reps would comment that their songs were either too alternative to be classified as pop, or too pop to be alternative, which became rather discouraging in the long run. By late 1991, the band members had developed a strong interest in the burgeoning electro-industrial scene. Dave and Andreas had founded Bang Elektronika and were working with Digital Poodle as live drummers. Both of these projects were soon picked up by record labels. TECHNIQUES BERLIN played their last show at the University of Toronto in November of 1991, debuting the last track they had recorded, fittingly called “Time Fades to Nothing”.
Now over two decades later, TECHNIQUES BERLIN is staging a remarkable comeback! Encouraged by the growing interest in the long out-of-print “Back Issue Volume 1 and 2” (now available on iTunes) and the highly sought-after compilation “Suburban Playgrounds and Concrete Beaches” (released by Fabrika Records on vinyl), Dave and Andreas have decided to bring TECHNIQUES BERLIN back to life. A series of shows in Toronto and Montreal saw the addition of keyboardist and backing vocalist Dina Naskos to the line-up. To celebrate the anniversary of the label that they founded, they included an unreleased track on the 7” EP, Future Past, on the Bombshelter Productions label.
Andreas, Dave and Dina have completed an album of brand new material, titled “Breathing”. The set consist of the new album, as well as a previously unreleased material and alternate versions of tracks from the Bombshelter vaults. The 2CD version includes a bonus disc featuring remixes by the best of the minimal synth, electropop and Italo Disco scene!
2 x LP
Nadanna is extremely proud and excited to present TOBIAS BERNSTRUP’s new album “Technophobic”. Bernstrup who works both as a visual artist and musician has been touring worldwide since the late 1990s and positioned himself as one of the leading re-inventors of Italo Disco with his unique mix of Italo, Synthpop and Gothic noir.
He has created his own unmistakable stage persona wearing androgynous outfits in shiny latex and heavy make-up. Tobias has collaborated with seminal artists such as Trans-X, Apoptygma Berzerk, Martial Canterel, Xeno & Oaklander, Lebanon Hanover, and She Past Away.
“Technophobic” contains 10 smashing tracks including the recent single “Utopia”, and “Metropolis of Tomorrow” featuring French dark synth wave artist HANTE. Combining influences from classic synthpop, minimal wave, dark wave in a retro futuristic manner TOBIAS BERNSTRUP has created an album reminiscent of the 80s but in a contemporary context of sound landscape. The CD version contains the “Utopia” EP with sensational remixes by Covenant, Italoconnection, Flemming Dalum and 23rd Underpass plus bonus remixes by Confrontational, Makina Girgir, Nao Katafuchi, and Techniques Berlin.
LP / CD
23rd UNDERPASS was founded in 2009 in Athens by Costa Andriopoulo (composition, songwriting). The same year saw the release of the 12″ maxi single “You’ll Never Know / Sometimes” in collaboration with Taxiarhis Zolotas (lyrics, vocals) and John Papagiannis (arrangements) on the Dutch/Italian record label Iventi Records. The single became a smash hit and sold out within two weeks time! The first video clip was aired in 2010 following up on the success of the single. The music contains influences from Italo disco, synthpop and new wave.
Since 2013, 23rd UNDERPASS consists of Costa Andriopoulo (composition, songwriting) and Nadia Vassilopoulou (lyrics, vocals) with them collaborating with various artists on vocals, amongst them Giannis Dimoulas (September Code) and Leo Skiadas (Cinemascope).
Listen here and order here.
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