Systems of Romance

Today’s band, Sixteens, has managed to gain a fair amount of worldwide notoriety over the past few years of relentless touring and recording.

The outfit, consisting of duo Kristen Louise and Verve Pauli (with the occasional collaborator or guest) birthed from San Francisco and is now based in the heart of Berlin. Both Kristen and Verve share vocal duties and instrumentation both live and on record.

Their sound combines a variety of aesthetics, from the cold, pulsing art-madness of Suicide, the dark wave and deathrock of the Skeletal Family, and a slew of minimal wave acts, many of which have been featured on this page in the past.

The band has released a handful of previous albums and series of split 7” with acts such as Hungry Eye Records’ the Vanishing before signing to the label proper, releasing both the Fendi EP in 2006 and the full length Into the Goldwave of Future Non Rip-off just this year. For your listening pleasure, I’ve uploaded a track from Into the Goldwave of Future Non Rip-off as well as a track featured on the 2003 Witches of the West compilation.

download Sixteens- ‘Aphrodite’
download Sixteens- ‘This Knife’

For photos, purchasing information, and all other info on Sixteens, please visit these local haunts:

Official Sixteens homepage

Sixteens on Hungry Eye Records

Not only am I excited to write about today’s band, but I’m also rather excited to be sharing the stage with them in just a few short hours at the notorious Club Midway here in New York City.

San Francisco’s The Holy Kiss walks similar paths as Sixteen Horsepower, the Gun Club, and the Bad Seeds; a bluesy, raw, country-thick stomp with the fire and passion of a post-punk outfit in their prime. The vocals and lyrics act as shrieking gospel of heartbreak and ruminating ghosts while the bass and drums trash rhythmically- the slide guitar holding it all together with delicious ethereal tension. There’s just as much Son House and Bessie Smith as there is Rowland S. Howard in this band’s repertoire.

The band began with a spark in the new millennium, and though they’ve already been through several lineup changes since their conception, the band’s progress has yet to slow. After a slew of rare compilation appearances, Shot Love on the Back Line appeared in 2007 as their first record proper. The album was released under Swedish greats Release the Bats. Meanwhile, our friends at Hungry Eye Records compiled those rare offshoot appearances and singles on to one self-titled collection for those taken with the band and anxious to get ahold of these oddities.

I’ve taken two of my favorite Holy Kiss tracks and tossed them up for today’s consumption, and I pray you find them as captivating as I do… Both of these tracks are featured on their debut record, Shot Love on the Back Line:

download The Holy Kiss- ‘A Dancehall Goodbye’
download The Holy Kiss- ‘Black, Etc.’

and here’s an official video for ‘Black, Etc.,’ directed by Dion Olivier:

For more on the Holy Kiss, visit these sites:

the official Holy Kiss site

purchase albums from Hungry Eye Records

and be sure to come see them (and us) play this evening if you’re in the NYC area! 9pm, Club Midway- 25 ave. B, Manhattan.

No synthesizers this time ladies and gentlemen, for today’s band is all organic, and as intense as can be. Furthermore, unlike most of the bands featured on this page thus far, they’re alive and well.

Hailing from Bloomington, Indiana, Turn Pale is a powerful post-punk unit complete with razor-sharp rhythmic basslines, howling vocals, and shuddering guitar licks backed with thundering drums. The band’s fury and hypnotic rhythm draws comparisons to the likes of the Birthday Party and Public Image Ltd. while remaining fresh as ever.

On the band’s homepage, they describe themselves as 3 parts Factory, 1 part 4ad, and 1 part Mute, a fitting concoction that defines their cold, yet atmospheric blend of dance punk, which claims to be even more captivating live. As far as recorded output is concerned, Turn Pale has a duo of 7” releases and two full-length records in the can; 2003’s Kill the Lights and 2007’s Mock Trial/Hung Jury. Today’s audio treats are a pair of tracks, one from each of these records. In chronological order, no less!

download Turn Pale- ‘Peaceable Kingdom
download Turn Pale- ‘Fuseable Link’

and to catch a glimpse of the band’s intense live show, here’s a youtube video for ‘Lights Melt Away,’ recorded on tour for Kill the Lights.

For all comprehensive official site information, including a few more free mp3s, purchasing information, photos, and all that jazz, click this link:

Official Turn Pale homepage

Formed in San Francisco in 1978, today’s band Units are among the very first of the synthpunk era, releasing a self-titled single in 1978. Pioneers through and through, the band abandoned the ferocity of the guitar and carried the harsh rhythms and fury of punk with a slew of synthesizers.

The band, featuring a revolving door lineup of musicians over the course of six years, managed to release a handful of singles and EPs, and one critically acclaimed album entitled Digital Stimulation. The band’s momentum and passion secured opening slots for the likes of Sparks, Ultravox, Gary Numan, Dead Kennedys, Psychedelic Furs, and Soft Cell over their tenure, and their live performances often contained a variety of backdrops and film projections, adding a touch of performance art to their craft.

The band peaked with Billboard Dance Chart success with ‘The Right Man,’ an early MTv video for ‘A Girl Like You,’ and the band signed to Epic/CBS records, but were unable to keep it together, splitting after two failed attempts to record new material under the label. The two shelved recordings have yet to surface, though a compilation of Units material is slated to be released later this year.

Here’s a trifecta of tracks from Units. The first, ‘Digital Stimulation,’ is featured on their 1980 record of the same name. The following two tracks hail from an early 7” recording.

download Units- ‘Digital Stimulation’
download Units- ‘Warm Moving Bodies’
download Units- ‘iNight’

I’m unable to embed the video for ‘A Girl Like You’ due to restraints on the only uploaded YouTube file, but if you’re interested watching this silly, silly video, click here:

watch ‘A Girl Like You’ on YouTube.

Units material is rather hard to track down, aside form the occasional LP or single spotting. If you see any, snap it up! Otherwise, for a more full discography and other information on the band, here’s a link for their site on synthpunk.org.

Units page

Happy Monday, ladies and gentlemen… To kick off this week, here’s a long-forgotten band with a recent bit of buzz surrounding their work.

Kitchen & the Plastic Spoons claimed to have formed by accident in 1980. Originally called Gdansk, the Swedish art-punk band employed quirky rhythms and fizzing synthesizers at dizzying speeds, and only managed to release a handful of singles and live compilation tracks before disbanding in 1981, soon after an aborted attempt to carry on with a new lead singer.

Though there’s been rumours of shows buzzing about in the underground, Kitchen & the Plastic Spoons still remain an ephemeral splash. Realising that a new generation of music fans were craving more than the few previously offered scraps, the band released a compilation entitled Best Off just this year, featuring their recorded studio output and a series of live songs never before bootlegged.

For today’s consumption, I’ve uploaded two of the band’s best known tunes, ‘Happy Funeral’ and ‘Ice Cream to God,’ both of which were early 7” releases.

download Kitchen & the Plastic Spoons – ‘Happy Funeral’
download Kitchen & the Plastic Spoons- ‘Ice Cream to God’

Best Off, the Kitchen & the Plastic Spoons compilation can be found and ordered through CD Baby by clicking this link:

http://cdbaby.com/cd/kitchenatps

Though I’ve scoured the usual channels for information, I found next to nothing on today’s artist, UK wave outfit Lelu/Lu’s, aside from a handful of compilation releases. I’ve only managed to come across two of these elusive tracks in their discography, but what a duo they are. Lo-fi, catchy, quirky, female fronted wave. The first, ‘Down My Spine’ is a stand alone track, looped with a bit of flute throughout while the second track, the more bombastic ‘Africa’ is featured on a split 7” with fellow Belgian new wave act Bene Gesserit.

If anyone has any additional information on this band, including sources for other tracks and information, by all means, drop a comment and pass them along! Otherwise, here’s today’s downloads:

download Lelu Lus- ‘Down My Spine’
download Lelu Lus- ‘Africa’

Thanks to Irk the Purists for a few additional bits and bobs!

It’s tough to dedicate a mere sliver of space for this one, for Fad Gadget were above and beyond, true pioneers. The brainchild of the late Frank Tovey, Fad Gadget were the first outfit to be signed to Daniel Miller’s Mute label, hot off the heels of Daniel’s own single ‘Warm Leatherette / T.V.O.D.’ (under the Normal moniker).

Over the course of four records and several single releases, Fad Gadget grew under a budding performance art and new wave movement, inspiring a series of musicians to come in both the industrial and wave genres. His lyrics were bleak yet laced in sometimes goofy sarcasm, while the music pulsed with electric rhythms and the sounds of whirring machinery.

This brand of unique intensity translated well into the live setting with an abundance of theatricality, Tovey covering himself in tar and feathers, hanging upside down from rafters, and often shaving himself completely with a razorblade.

In 1984, Tovey shed the Fad Gadget moniker and continued to explore the avant garde realm under his own name rather than the pseudonym, withdrawing from the music business in 1993. In 2001, Tovey picked up the Fad Gadget moniker once more to play a series of shows with former proteges Depeche Mode. He continued to perform until April of 2002, when he died of a sudden heart-attack.

As for the today’s downloadables, I’ve selected one of the outfit’s first singles as well as a deep cut from 1982’s Under the Flag:

download Fad Gadget- ‘Back to Nature’
download Fad Gadget- ‘Under the Flag II’

and for your viewing pleasure, here’s a video for ‘Collapsing New People,’ Fad Gadget’s best known tune:

Fad Gadget’s discography is more readily available than most of the artists usually posted here, so just take a peek at the local Amazon website for a start:

Amazon.com

Section 25 formed in Lancashire in early 1978, a pair of brothers recruiting members for a more avant sort of dance group. As they rose to some degree of prominence with England’s Factory Records (Joy Divison, A Certain Ratio, Happy Mondays, etc.), the band was immediately written off as a Public Image Ltd. soundalike and as derivative of their fellow Factory mates. Over time however, the band’s own subtle style became more apparent.

A more ambient sort of dance band, Section 25 combined pulsing relentless rhythms, jagged guitar work, and alternated between ethereal female voices (heard on their later releases) and an abrupt male voice for vocal duties. Their connection to New Order and Joy Division remained steadfast over their tenure, for their first single was produced by Joy Division vocalist Ian Curtis and manager Rob Gretton, their first record by Factory favorite Martin Hannett, and their third LP, From a Hip by Bernard Sumner of New Order. As the band continued to play gigs and record, they shifted from a rhythmic dub sound and evolved into a more electro-dance outfit.

After ten years, the band split and fell silent until June of 2007, when a reunited band (minus vocalist/keyboardist Jenny Flowers, who died before recording more than a handful of tracks in 2004) released their fifth full length Part-Primitiv, a series of new songs written and recorded over the course of six years.

For the downloading, here’s a selected duo of tracks. The first is an alternate recording of ‘Looking From a Hilltop,’ originally featured on From a Hip. The second track is taken from 2007’s Part-Primitiv.

download Section 25- ‘Looking From a Hilltop (Restructure)’
download Section 25- ‘Poppy Fields’

Click below to watch a video for the first version of ‘Looking From a Hilltop.’

Get some Section 25 discs here:

Amazon.com link

Deutsch-Amerikanische Freundschaft (also known as DAF) were an NDW band from Düsseldorf, Germany. They formed in 1978 and split soon after, proving another influential leader in a budding synth scene.

The band held a pseudo-political approach, their name translating into English as German-American Friendship. Many of the band’s songs, though existential and nihilistic at first glance, were rumoured to have political undertones. The band originally began as a four-piece outfit, though after their first few records the band trimmed to two, vocalist Gabi Delgado-López and programmer/synth tech Robert Görl.

Though the band always employed a series of keyboards and analog synthesizers, DAF took a more synth-based approach soon after trimming their ranks, steering away from thrasy guitar-driven punk of their first two records, while still retaining a bit of their previous fury and intensity. The band soon gathered a large cult following, and quickly influenced emerging synth and industrial acts such as Depeche Mode, Soft Cell, and Coil.

Though remaining inactive for nearly two decades, both members of Deutsch-Amerikanische Freundschaft went on to pursue solo material, recording and developing electro and techno music over the course of their hiatus. The band reformed in 2003 with a slicker sound, new songs, and a higher political agenda.

For today’s consumption, I’ve uploaded a track from their third record, Alles is Gut as well as one of their more cherished early single releases:

download Deutsch-Amerikanische Freundschaft- ‘Kebab Traume’

download Deutsch-Amerikanische Freundschaft- ‘Als wär’s das letzte Mal’

and in closing, here’s a live performance of one of their best known tracks- ‘Der Mussolini,’ taken from a 2003 reunion show:

for purchase info:

D.A.F. Amazon music page