Unknown Pleasures Records: Maman Küster – Sous La Peau De Maman Küsters

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, ,

Unknown Pleasures Records: Follow Me Not – Nothing Comes With A Smile

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, ,

Unknown Pleasures Records: David Carretta – Two Decades: A Retrospective CD

David Carretta - Two Decades: A Retrospective CD

David started making music at the end of the eighties with an ultra confidential project called Art Kinder Industrie, based in Marseille. He was the first artist to sign on the german label International Deejay Gigolo owned by DJ Hell with the maxi “Boing Bum Tschag/ Innerwood” released in 1996.

He is one of the most influencial electro french artist in the world and a pioneer of the Techno scene as soon as 1994 with a maxi released on Harthouse, Sven Vath ‘s mythical label. His music is characterized by an analog techno sound backed up by retro-futuristic synthesizers that take their roots as much in Front 242 and Nitzer Ebb ‘s EBM as in Giorgio Moroder or Bobby Orlando’s disco basslines.

After having released three albums ensenced by both audiences and critics, more than a dozen EPs full of dancefloor anthems, more than fifty remixes, and having inspired DJ Hell to create International Deejay Gigolo 20 years ago, David Carretta is one of the founders of the Electro Clash movement in 1999 with his album « Catalogue Électronique » that will start an international wave from which he is the spiritual godfather.

Following the incredible success of his productions for the label Gigolo, David has been having an internatioal career spreading his Techno/ New Beat / EBM / Italo Disco in the biggest clubs and festivals around the world. He founds his own label Space Factory in 2003 on which he releases his ultimate album, the very cosmic « Rodeo Disco » in 2008. Then in 2011 he joins the label Zone, founded by The Hacker and Gesaffelstein, on which he signs two fantastic EPs : « Crash » ( with Workerpoor) and « Land Of Sin », a cold, surgical, industrial techno without any concessions.

Unknown Pleasures Records is happy to welcome in his team this essential character of the Electronic scene to celebrate his twenty years of career with the release of a compilation CD soberly called « Two Decades: A Retrospective » which includes the artist’s best titles in “radio edit” format as well as a new unreleased track.

Limited Edition Compact Disc Deluxe Digisleeve 6 Panels with imprint special condom.

Posted on January 22nd, 2016 under Releases, ,

Unknown Pleasures Records: USHERsan & HIV+ – Wide Lights From Hatred Springs

USHERsan & HIV+ - Wide Lights From Hatred Springs

New version of CD album “Wide Lights from Hatred Springs” published in december 2012 on Signifier (Chicago/USA).

UPR is pleased to present the first collaborative project from prolific cold industrial / minimal synth artists Anthon ‘Usher’ Shield of french coldwave cult act NORMA LOY (and today BLACK EGG) and Pedro Peñas y Robles (from HIV+). Some of these songs have contributed to the birth of their synthwave franco spanish duo ADAN & ILSE in 2013.

“Wide Lights from Hatred Springs” features studio sessions inspired by Noise, Post Punk and New Wave pioneers such as Throbbing Gristle, Suicide, Cabaret Voltaire, SPK or Nitzer Ebb. The unpredictable pairing of Usher & Pedro utilize vintage equipment and techniques from the late 1970′s / early 80′s leading to a memorable and catchy sound that is as fresh as it is familiar. Haunting compositions feature electro industrial rhythms and old analogue synths. Lyrics sung by HIV+ with backing vocals by USHERsan and Vera give voice to the way in which emotional, spiritual, and social isolation encapsulate the madness of our time.

Featuring remixes from ABSOLUTE BODY CONTROL and MILLIMETRIC.

Listen and order here.

Posted on December 13th, 2015 under Releases, , ,

Unknown Pleasures Records: Alek Drive – Frontière

Alek Drive - Frontière

Young 25 years old producer who started producing music in the south of France, he began his career at 21 after understanding that analog machines allowed him to create sounds differently than a contact between two physical objects, which is the case with traditional instruments.

Quickly, Alek bought his first synthesizers and spent days and nights to work on, absorbed by the vibrations of his electronic machines, until extracting the spirit of his own music. Exorcist of his own young asocial devils, and a no doubt vision of an iron and chaotic future, Alek Drive’s music fascinate by a powerful strike force and surgical precision.

After a first EP (“Master Of Road” on Police Records and “Endless” with Edgework), the young French producer decided to merge technique and concept, giving a deepest meaning to his creations. He then left the country for a road trip on the other side of the world, initiatory travel from Nullarbord desert gates to the west coast of the large Australian continent.

Listen and order here.

Posted on December 3rd, 2015 under Releases, ,