***REPRESSED!!! Dark Entries is honored to present the highly limited second cassette by British duo NAGAMATZU for the first time ever on vinyl. Sacred Islands of the Mad is a collection of eleven tracks recorded between December 1984 and March 1986 in London by ANDREW LAGOWSKI (SETI, LEGION, TERROR AGAINST TERROR) on synths, guitar, and drum machines and STEPHEN JARVIS (PURE MOTORISED INSTINCT, TERRAFORM) on synths, bass and programming. Nagamatzu began in 1982 after messing around with old tape machines and drum boxes, making numerous contributions to international compilations and erratically releasing their own cassettes. Their name comes from a character in JG Ballard‘s Atrocity Exhibition and their music reflects his influence and incorporates samples from the Challenger shuttle disaster, Gregorian chants and films including Dawn of the Dead and The Omen. All the songs were recorded onto a Ferrograph reel to reel in a small room at their parent’s house and some of the backing rhythms and sequencers were recorded first onto cassette and then the band played along live. Nagamatzu’s instrumentals combine stuttering bass, guitar bursts and funeral keyboards draped over a dragging drum machine beat, calling to mind Clock DVA, Cabaret Voltaire and early New Order or Cocteau Twins. Sacred Islands of the Mad is a complex, textured tapestry of sound full of dark electronics, fresh harmonies and danceable rhythms. All songs have been remastered especially for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley from the original cassette masters. Each LP is housed in...
LP $17.50
07/31/2012
***BACK IN PRINT!!! DARK DAY was the brainchild of ROBIN CRUTCHFIELD formed after leaving New York’s seminal No Wave band, DNA. Following the first few incarnations and various lineups, 1981 saw the direction of the project morphed into an electronic keyboard duo where Robin was joined by BILL SACK. Together they recorded an album of nine songs entitled Window that was released on Plexus Records. Lyrics were inspired by various sources including occult texts by Colin Wilson and art by Leger, Bruegel, Malevich, Man Ray, Duchamp and Jean Cocteau. The mechanized sound of Window is less one of the man machine robots in charge of Kraftwerk than man at the mercy of his machines. The infectiously-engaging toy-like instruments captured the ears of fans worldwide with popcorn drum rhythms. A Synare borrowed from Jeff and Jane Hudson lent a “Bette Davis Eyes” crack to the percussion on the percolating tracks. The instant polaroid images, an homage to Japanese recording artist Susan of “The Girl Can’t Help It,” adorned the album sleeve in two stark headshots of musicians at work, haunted by the unseen. The front cover, a Crutchfield-designed collage in two tones of salmon flesh and Mediterranean watery blue show a string of rickety children in diaper togs, forced much like the children of “Cat In The Hat” to spend a dreary day indoors. The look on the children’s faces asks you to determine whether they are needing to be rescued from their enclosure, or inviting you to join and play....
LP $17.50
05/15/2012
***Dark Entries is working in reverse order to reissue DARK DAY’s first album Exterminating Angel originally released in 1980 on Lust/Unlust. Dark Day is the minimal electronics brainchild of ROBIN CRUTCHFIELD following his separation with no wave band DNA. Growing up in rural Pennsylvania, Crutchfield was fascinated with both performance art and the most esoteric edges of pop music. After making his escape to New York City in the mid-seventies, he was inspired by Yoko Ono’s Plastic Ono Band and Lydia Lunch’s Teenage Jesus & The Jerks. He made the transition into the new music of downtown Manhattan and formed the “no wave” band DNA with Arto Lindsay and Ikue Mori in 1977. In 1979 Crutchfield left DNA to pursue a series of musical projects under the name Dark Day. His first album, Exterminating Angel is named after the Luis Bunuel film of the same name. On this album the band is Robin on synthesizers and vocals, PHIL KLINE on guitar/bass, BARRY FRIAR on drums and guest STEVEN BROWN of TUXEDOMOON on saxophone. All 13 songs on Exterminating Angel use cheap synthesizers to create cyclical, machine-like keyboard riffs as a foundation for the moody, Teutonic music. Crutchfield sings like a lost member of Kraftwerk with a dry detachment creating a starker and chillier atmosphere. Lyrics were derived from cut-up methods similar to those used by the surrealists, fluxus artists, and William Burroughs and Bryon Gysin and pit the subjected against their torments and tormentors. All songs on Exterminating Angel were...
LP $17.50
05/15/2012
***Dark Entries is thrilled to present a 4-song compilation from one of the finest groups of the Spanish New Wave/Techno-Pop scene of the 1980s. VOCODER were a quartet from Zaragoza, Spain formed in 1981. Keyboardists ANTONIO LAVAL, ALFONSO OLARTE and ANTONIO TENAS met while attending university, and were later joined by vocalist PILAR PELLICER. They recorded several demos with synthesizers, sequencers and drum machines, creating a soundtrack for the clubs and dance floors. After sending demos to various record companies, they signed a deal with Aviador Dro's sublabel Neón Danza and released two EPs, "What Happens Now"/"Radio" in 1984, "Mindanao"/"Amor de Robot" in 1985 and a self-titled LP which was produced by Michel Huygen (Neuronium) in 1987. Vocoder also appeared on the TV program La Bola De Cristal, presenting their music video for "What Happens Now," in which the band danced in a supermarket with a shopping cart full of synthesizers. The group mutually disbanded in 1988 and continued to organize concerts for other groups touring in Spain. Cuadro Sinóptico compiles both two-song 12" maxi singles as one four-song EP. All four songs were recorded during 1984-85 at Doublewtronics Studios in Madrid, Spain, using the most advanced and sophisticated techniques of time in digital recording and Direct Metal Mastering (DMM). The band utilized many professional synthesizers of the time: Roland Juno 60, Prophet V, Korg Poly 61, Yamaha DX-7, Roland TR-909 and the Linn Drum, which was used by most Italo Disco artists. These songs were recorded in the highest...
12" $12.00
05/15/2012
***Dark Entries is honored to present the See You Sioux cassette by BUZZ for the first time ever on vinyl. Buzz began as the brainchild of J-C VAN THIENEN in Lille, northern France, ten miles from the Belgian border. He released one album in 1985, the highly limited demo cassette See You Sioux. In the late ‘70s and early ‘80s J-C witnessed the punk explosion while studying and working abroad in England. He regularly attended concerts by Adam and the Antz, The Sound, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Ski Patrol, Spizzenergi, The Cure, interviewing the bands for a fanzine. Returning to France, and feeling inspired, J-C bought a Soundmaster drum machine and two second-hand synthesizers in 1983. He started composing songs applying the DIY punk ethos akin to Cabaret Voltaire and Fad Gadget, who like him were eccentrics in a pop-rock world. Borrowing a 4-track Portastudio from a friend, J-C recorded 7 songs that would become the skeletons for the See You Sioux album. The local radio station provided studio time for free so Buzz enlisted help from the guitarist (VINCENT) and drummer (FRANCK) of THE FIGURINES . His neighbor, BEATRICE, added backing vocals. The result was the entirely self-produced See You Sioux cassette, recorded in one take. Buzz combined new wave dancefloor appeal with the abrasive textures and irreverent attitude of post-punk. Lyrically, they addressed topics such as the Cold War, post-World War II tension in Berlin, the assassination of Kennedy, Pablo Picasso’s minimalism - all in a manner...
LP $17.50
02/28/2012
***Dark Entries is proud to shed light on underground Belgian New Wave pioneers, SIC, with the career-spanning release Thought Noises. SIC were a post-punk band from the industrial city of Charleroi in the francophone part of Belgium. They were formed by FRANCIS POURCEL, ALAIN NEFFE (BENE GESSERIT), MICHELINE DUFERT, and MARIO BERCHICCI in 1977. Francis and Alain had previously played with Krautrock band KOSMOSE in the mid ‘70s. In 1978 Alain left the group to launch the cassette label Insane Music. The new trio released their debut 7” “Voltage Control” in 1979 on Artibano Records. By 1980 Mario left and was replaced by a Korg KR-55 drum machine. As a duo, SIC self-released the “Cover Girls Smile”/ “Between” 7” in 1980, which was played by John Peel on Radio 1 in London. Unable to replicate the studio sounds for live concerts, the duo recruited three additional musicians, WILHELM DUNKER (bass), HENRY KRUTZEN (saxophone) and DANIELE DAOUST (synthesizer). In 1981 their final 7” single, “Free Radio Stations” was self-released and the band recorded a demo tape to help secure live gigs. SIC continued to play live over the next two year but eventually broke up in 1983. SIC stray from more conventional post-punk, mixing the affordable Korg MS-20 and Roland RS-09 synthesizers with jazz and funk elements. All three 7”s and demos are united by strong, watery Rickenbacker bass chords reminiscent of American jazz legend Jaco Pastorius and UK bassist Mick Karn (Japan). A heavy reliance on rhythm and Micheline's...
LP $17.50
02/28/2012
***Dark Entries digs deep into the UK Goth underground to unearth THE DANSE SOCIETY Demos Vol. 1. 1983 was The Danse Society’s year. Playing sold out tours and the success of Seduction won them a recording contract with Arista Records. Spending their advance on new equipment the band recorded an album’s worth of demos in one day at Greenhouse Studios, London in May 1983. Doom laden guitar riffs, swirling synthesizers, crushing drums, driving and disembodied vocals, characterize the distinctive Society sound. Demos Vol. 1 is the closest you’ll get to The Danse Society live experience. You can almost taste the dry ice, feel the power coming through the monitors, and become entranced by the strobe-induced madness this album embodies. The Danse Society operate in a raw, atmospheric realm less campy than many of their Goth Rock peers, unconcerned with pop charts or commercial appeal. These aren’t songs, they are commands. This eleven-track collection includes an early version of the single “Wake Up,” five demos that would make the cut for Heaven Is Waiting, songs that would later become B-sides and two unreleased instrumentals. All songs have been remastered from the original tapes for vinyl by GEORGE HORN at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, CA. Each LP includes a fold-out, double-sided newsprint poster with photos, lyrics and liner notes by original drummer PAUL GILMARTIN and music journalist MICK MERCER. 28 years later these demos capture a band at the height of their confident, powerful and haunting glory.
LP $20.25
11/01/2011
***EUROPA was a short-lived synthpop group from Valencia, Spain formed in 1980 by JULIO “NEXUS” PASTOR (synthesizers), ALFONSO AGUADO (vocals, guitar), LINO OVIANO (vocals, drum machine), and JOSE LUIS MACIAS (synthesizers). The quartet championed the use of synthesizers, drum machines and other polyphonic gadgets in a city that was stuck in the throws of progressive rock. They recorded and released their only album La Última Emoción in 1981 on cassette, released by DAI (Division Avanzada Independiente) a label interested in bands "capable of building electronic sounds from drum machines, sequencers, synths and effects, rather than conventional instruments like guitars and basses." The original issue of La Última Emoción was a single-sided cassette and limited to 500 copies. The band mixed all the tracks at their home studio using a Roland Juno 60, Casiotone 202, Korg Polysix, MS-20, MS-10 and the KR-55 drum machine. As part of the Spanish Techno-pop movement of the 1980s, Europa's songs featured arpeggiated synthesizers and upbeat drum machines that flashback to the sound of Vince Clarke's Depeche Mode days. Comparisons could be made to other Spanish Techno-pop bands like Aviador Dro, Vocoder or Metal y Ca but Europa weaved a unique style of driving, energetic rhythms, bouncy keyboards and soaring vocals perfect for dancing or speeding into outer space. Shorty after their debut release the band would switch their name to ULTIMA EMOCION releasing an EP in 1983 and an album in 1984 before breaking up. Alfonso Aguado went on to front LOS INHUMANOS, Julio Pastor...
LP $17.50
09/20/2011
***SYSTEM LILIPUTT was the solo project of GEIR VASSENG from the Stavanger area of Norway in the early 1980s. He released one cassette, Harpa a mini-album of 6 songs in Feburary 1984 on his own label Geva Tapes & Studio that was limited to 150 copies. 27 years later Dark Entries has baked and transferred the original master tapes, adding 5 bonus tracks, restoring this lost piece of Norsk D.I.Y. dark post-punk. Harpa, in its entirety and all the demos were recorded in Geir's home studio from November 1982 to September 1983. All tracks were written, produced, recorded and performed by Geir without the involvement of any others. Influenced by the darker/melodic post-punk bands Young Marble Giants, Fra Lippo Lippi and Seventeen Seconds/Faith-era Cure, System Liliputt created rich atmospheres with intricate guitar work, ethereal synths and sombre vocals. Whereas the original six Hapra songs capture a brooding and downbeat feel the demos showcase Vasseng's ability to write a catchy, wistful pop song with minimally treated instruments. All tracks have been carefully remastered by GEORGE HORN at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley for the first time on vinyl. The original cassette included six inlay cards with lyrics which are re-printed here along with English translations by Geir's son! Another piece of Norway's rich post-punk past is ready for your ears.
LP $17.50
09/20/2011
***BORGHESIA is an electronic music group from Ljubljana, Slovenia, created in 1982 by ALDO IVANCIC and DARIO SERAVAL who were members of the alternative theater troupe FV-112/15. Along with Laibach, Borghesia is the most successful band from the territory of former Yugoslavia who launched the activist movement and managed to turn sexual freedom into an important political issue by creating the New Slovenian Art scene. After two cassette-only releases the band recorded their debut vinyl LP Ljubav Je Hladnija Od Smrti (“Love Is Colder Than Death”) during the winter of 1983-84. The band was eager to use early sampling techniques to construct tracks from cut up radio noises and movie dialogue. They developed their own brand of EBM (Electronic Body Music) that combined symphonic synthesizers (Korg PolySix), funky basslines, military drum beats (Roland TR-808) and harsh, crisp sequenced rhythms that repeat in trance-like loops (Roland TB-303). All songs from Ljubav Je Hladnija Od Smrti are sung/recited in Croatian and use the imagery of the prohibited, tabooed and repressed. Equal parts Chris & Cosey, Cabaret Voltaire, Art of Noise and Rainer Werner Fassbinder. All tracks have been remastered by George Horn at Fantasy Studio in Berkeley. Pressed on blood red vinyl, each disc is manufactured with its own unique pattern: no two discs are identical. Each LP is housed in an exact replica of the original large 6-panel fold out poster with lyrics and photos. Limited to 1000 hand-numbered copies.
LP $17.50
08/16/2011
***This split LP combines two 7-inches from the Danish bands DE MA VAERE BELGIERE and END OF YOUR GARDEN originally released on the Replik Muzick record label in 1981/83. End Of Your Garden were a trio from Haderslev who took their name from the Joy Division song “Eternal.” Inspired after reading an NME review of the first Young Marble Giants release, the band formed in late 1980. Using a DIY mentality, they employed a sparse, simple sound built around synthesizer, rhythm box, bass, guitar and violin, which set them apart from their contemporaries. The recording for the Celebration 7-inch took place during one weekend in the summer of 1981 with producer INGOLF BROWN of Danish synthpop band MORAL. The four songs on the Celebration 7-inch showed the diverse range this band covered during their short life. After recording the Test 7-inch in 1982 the band broke up and members went on to form TRISTAN T. De Må Være Belgiere were a four-piece from Aarhus formed in 1982. Their sole release was a 7-inch recorded in February 1983 and the music was a product of the Factory Records post punk sound conveying a melancholic and mournful mood. The band played guitar, bass, drums, sang in their native language of Danish and shared a love for Echo and the Bunnymen, Josef K., The Cure and Joy Division. Sadly the group broke up in 1984 after a handful of live shows, one of which was recorded and released on CD in 2006 by...
LP $17.50
08/16/2011
***STARTER was a minimal electronic/synthpop group from Switzerland, formed in 1980 by vocalist and fashion designer FRANCIS FOSS, CLAUDINE CHIRAC (from fellow Swiss Wave group GRAUZONE) and JET HARBOUR. Originally the band also included STEPHAN EICHER who co-wrote two songs but departed before the band recorded their debut album. Starter began in the city of Bern when Francis, Claudine and Jet decided to create their own brand of New Wave music inspired by Gary Numan and Kraftwerk.They released their debut, self-titled album in the summer of 1981, making this summer the 30th anniversary of this long out-of-print and extremely hard to find LP! Using early analog Roland and Korg synthesizers, Starter’s music seamlessly merges wistful electronics from Germany’s Neue Deutsche Welle movement and powerful vocal stylings from French Chanson. Alongside their Swiss Wave contemporaries like Grauzone, Yello, Liliputt/Kleenex, STARTER created a new brand of hallucinatory ‘Techno-Pop’ made up of chopped rhythms, energetic and almost epileptic vocals that are immediately catchy and hypnotic, perfect for the dance-floor. In 1985 Starter reformed as a duo with Francis Foss on vocals again and GARY GREY on synth/rhythm programming. Their first single “Victim” took cues from Italo Disco and Bobby Orlando’s Hi-NRG dance sounds and is the bonus track on Side B of this LP. The song “Part of You” was chosen as the lead track on the Gomma compilation CD Teutonik Disaster 2 in 2003 recruiting new fans worldwide and ushering Francis Foss to release a homemade CD-R/DVD compilation of the entire...
LP $17.50
08/16/2011
***XEX were an all-synthesizer band from South River, New Jersey who recorded their debut album group:xex in 1980. Formed when a trio of high school misfits with funny names (WAW PIEROGI, THUMBALINA GUGIELMO, and ALEX ZANDER) teamed up with some friends from Rutgers College Performed entirely on then-state-of-the-art Arps, synths and electronic drums—no guitars anywhere—group: xex aims for the future, but comes across now like a time capsule from the deepest, darkest Reagan years. Each song burrows its way into your head with repetitive, undeniably catchy synth lines and vocal chants. “SNGA” (“Soviet Nerve Gas Attack”), “Cops” and “Delta Five” are doomy evocations of Cold War tension not far removed from very early Devo. But they were also capable of being quirky and whimsical. On “Fashion Hurts,” “Svetlana” and “St. Vitus Dance,” Waw and Thumbalina come across like a primitive B-52s, replacing the dance/party vibe with resignation and cynical humor. group: xex doesn’t sound like it’s from New Jersey. It barely sounds like it’s from Earth. However, there’s a certain residual murkiness that subliminally evokes the Central Jersey working-class suburbs. group: xex was all but forgotten until 1998, when radio DJ TOM SMITH discovered it in the WFMU music library and tracked down the band members, which lead to a CD reissue in 2004 on Smack Shire Records. Just in time for the 30th anniversary of group:xex Dark Entries tracked down Waw Pierogi and restored the original master tapes with GEORGE HORN who remastered the tracks for vinyl at Fantasy...
LP $20.50
08/16/2011
***AVAILABLE AGAIN!!! "Dark Entries and Captured Tracks have teamed up to re-issue the debut album Flesh by JEFF & JANE HUDSON expanded with an extra LP of singles and EP material. Jeff & Jane Hudson are a husband/wife duo from Boston who got their start in the art punk band THE RENTALS in 1977. The Rentals broke up in 1980 and Jeff & Jane relocated to Manhattan where they opened for Suicide and quickly signed with No Wave label Lust/Unlust. Their first single ‘No Clubs’ was released in late 1980 and showcased a lo-fi avant garde all synthesizer band. The ‘World Trade’ EP came next in 1981, expanding their brand of post-nuclear electronic pop. The duo reached their pinnacle with 1982's seminal Flesh, perhaps one of the United States biggest achievements in the entire ‘synth’ movement of the era. The music was electro-pop employing early Roland synths and the TR-808 drum machine. Jeff's lyrics flirted with technology and politics, while Jane wrote about cultural and psychological situations. Completely self produced by the band, the record has since been oft-cited as a groundbreaking and pivotal LP of the post-punk era, who's original copies are now heavily coveted by collectors. Completing the discography is the ‘Special World’ 7" released in 1983 before the band emigrated back to Boston and stopped recording and performing. This deluxe edition has been remastered for vinyl by GEORGE HORN at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley directly from the original master tapes. Each double LP set comes in...
2XLP $24.00
06/21/2011