Archive for March, 2013

Pro Memoria- 1988 K7

Posted in 1980s, 1988, coldwave, ethereal, france, french, k7, lost desert, spleen ideal with tags , on March 29, 2013 by Frankie Teardrop

Apologies for flooding your hard drives yet again, but I’ve been meaning to post this tape for months now, and it’s due time for it to be heard.  Here we have the debut demo cassette from Pro Memoria, a haunting and gloomy French Coldwave band from Lyon, one of the country’s hotspots for this sound.  The cassette was self-released in 1988, and features three incredible studio tracks and one live number to top it off.  Fans of Cocteau Twins, Lost Desert, Rosa Luxemburg, Baroque Bordello, Collection D’Arnell-Andrea, etc. will love this one.

There are a handful of scattered compilation appearances around the same era as this release, including two tracks on the often mentioned Nos Années Folles compilation (Lost Desert, Spleen Ideal, etc.)  The band changed their sound a bit to incorporate some jazz influences, releasing Elegia in 1991.  You can grab that one from 7” From the Underground.  “Cinderella” from this cassette has been cleaned up and reissued on the excellent Transmissions Continued compilation on Infrastition.

R-2186760-1268682141

Pro Memoria- 1988 K7
1. Cindirella
2. Le Cri
3. Secret Du Prisme
4. Pro Memoria (Live Lyon, Mars 88)

*download it here*

6 Comments »

Harumi Shimada- Yakō Shōnen 7”

Posted in 1980s, 1984, after the sludge, harumi shimada, japan, japanese, masahiro sugawara, minimal, minimal synth, new wave on March 27, 2013 by Frankie Teardrop

Another quick and dirty post here, an excellent 7” from Japan, released in 1984 via Forecast Records. According to the discogs entry, this 7” was written by Masahiro Sugawara, who was also involved in After the Sludge.  Harumi was just one of six people who performed on this 7”, which features an excellent mid-tempo minimal synth track.  The B-side appears to be a bizarre dub version of the track which weaves in and out of coherence and descends into chaos over the course of 5 minutes.  Safe to assume that the B-side is the English translation of Yakō Shōnen.

I have plenty of excellent coldwave on the back burner, but it’s been a long time since we’ve had a bona fide minimal synth rarity, so have at it!

Harumi Shimada- Yakō Shōnen 7”
1. Yakō Shōnen
2. Midnight Boy

*download it here*

4 Comments »

Sombre Septembre- Une Lune Une Hiver 7”

Posted in 1980, 1990, 1990s, coldwave, france, french, sombre septembre on March 20, 2013 by Frankie Teardrop

Here’s another quick post for another French coldwave classic, re-ripped from the archives for those who have already heard this one.  This post is a sister post of sorts to Sorrow Vomit’s latest offering.  While that self-released CD-R contains most of the band’s discography, it curiously neglects the A-side to this 7” and includes a low quality rip of the b-side.  Maybe the band were disappointed with this single or couldn’t locate the tapes.  Just a theory.   The songs are quite long for a 7”, which explains some of the murkiness that you may hear here occasionally.

Anyway, this 7” saw the band experimenting with heavier, synthpop inspired drums, though obviously the songs are still very synth/guitar/bass driven, melancholy tones, etc.  If I recall correctly, these two tracks featured a different lineup than “Le Nez Rouge” so that may explain both the new sounds and the aforementioned omissions.

Sombre Septembre- Une Lune Une Hiver 7”
1. Une Lune Une Hiver
2. Passée La Nuit

*download it here*

Coming soon- more collaborations from an Italian collector as well as some never-before-heard rarities I’ve been meaning to post for a while now.  Hang tight!

Leave A Comment »

Pavillon 7B- Pavillon 7B LP

Posted in 1980s, 1987, coldwave, france, french, goth, pavillon 7b on March 19, 2013 by Frankie Teardrop

A real quick and dirty post here for today- simply because I’ve had little time this week, have had this in the queue for many months, and almost forgot to post it…  Here we have an updated copy of the s/t Pavillon 7B LP from 1987, lovingly re-ripped by the one and only BX.   A true coldwave classic from Dijon, a small town in the east of France, featuring dark and passionate female vocals and thin, mad-carnival synth lines .  One of my favorite LPs, by far- one that seems to get better with each listen.  The band also released several cassettes, appeared on many compilations, and issued a collection on Minimal Wave in 2007 which collected many of the band’s earliest works.   ‘Black Generation’ was also featured prominently on several compilations, including the excellent Transmission compilation from Infrastition, which I’m sure you’ve all heard by now…

Even if you’re already familiar with this one- you’re in for a treat!

Pavillon 7B- Pavillon 7B LP
1. Black Generation
2. Wish
3. Sensation
4. The Sailor
5. Les Nouveaux Abris
6. Sphere
7. +
8. Love Loser
9. Somebody

*download it here*

3 Comments »

Marte in Ariete- Demo K7 +bonus

Posted in 1985, coldwave, italian, marte in ariete, post-punk on March 10, 2013 by Frankie Teardrop

I’ve mentioned this before, but I’ve always had a soft spot for rare Italian wave.  Most of my favorites in this genre hail from France, but Italy is a very close second in my heart as far as quality and quantity is concerned.  With that in mind, I have a bunch of rare Italian releases to post, a new undertaking that will take quite some time to properly document.  Of course, other posts will come in between as warranted (so many things in the queue!), but fans of Italian wave should definitely check back over the coming months for a lot of great unearthed material.

First up, we have a demo tape from 1985 ripped by Fabrizio.   The five piece band is named Marte in Ariete (click here for a list of members) and hailed from La Spezia, a town near the border of France.  With that in mind, the tracks here employ a very French coldwave sort of sound, but in the Italian tradition and language.  Cold synths, excellent guitar work, the kind of quality you can expect from the genre.  The band would contribute two further tracks (including a lyrically reworked version of “Confusione” that’s sung in English with nearly identical music) to the C.O.D.E. compilation from 1985, which features more of the bands that will be posted here in the future.   I believe Venus+On has posted the full compilation, but since I can’t seem to ping that blog at the moment, I’ve included the two Marte in Ariete songs from that compilation as well, which completes the band’s discography.  Check back here for a link for the full comp. once the blog resumes!

Just one catch with this demo–the final track has a series of errors where the tape was blank and cuts off abruptly, so I’ve cut those bits and faded the track out around the 5:00 mark to save you guys the frustration of having several blank spaces and an abrupt ending to an otherwise great song.  It seems like the song had another minute or two to go, so it’s an unfortunate loss.  If anyone happens to have a copy of this incredibly rare gem, please feel free to rectify this for us with a fresh rip!  No photo for this one either, so use your imagination and otherwise, hope you guys enjoy this incredibly rare Italian obscurity!

Marte in Ariete- Demo K7 (1985)
1. Confusione
2. Nostalgia
3. Ultimi Fuochi
4. Petali Neri

Bonus tracks from C.O.D.E. (1985)
5. Abuse
6. The Final Scene

*download it here*

6 Comments »