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Well done, Found Object! The tracks on this album remind me of some of best synth-pop bands I grew up with in the 1980s. Though Tangerine Dream is referenced as an influence, I hear something different – Kraftwerk, Blancmange, a more instrumental Depeche Mode or Soft Cell seem to be popping up as influences as I listen through. Really, a joyful album.
The ever-fantastic Wewantsounds is giving the gold-star treatment to Akiko Yano, wife of the recently departed Ryuichi Sakamoto and fine musician in her own right, collaborating with Haruomi Hosono, Yukihiro Takahashi, David Sylvian, Mick Karn, Charlie Haden, Bill Frisell, Thomas Dolby, and a host of others. From the label’s Bandcamp site: “Wewantsounds continues its Akiko Yano reissue programme…
Spammerheads – Tar Blood / Cement Skin
I grew up with Electronic Body Music during my high-school years when my little brother and I would go clubbing in Hollywood, and the music has stuck with me for well over three decades. Spain’s Spammerheads have made a sound that would compliment early Front Line Assembly, the harsher vocal aspects of Front 242, and a recording technique that was compressed just enough to make me feel like I was…
Y Bülbül – Fever
What a charmingly weird discovery this is! Yiğit Bülbül is a London-based musician whose roots are in Turkey, and this mini-album combines the experimentation of artists like Holger Czukay with the dulcet sounds of Serge Gainsbourg’s backing band in their calmer moments. A surreal release this one…
Alan Vega – Jukebox Babe
Jukebox Babe by former Suicide frontman Alan Vega hasn’t been in print since 1981, so this 7-inch slab of new wave synth-pop is a welcome addition to the Suicide pantheon.
Jettenbach – Somniphobia [Remixed]
It’s nice to indulge in a guilty pleasure on occasion. Growing up in Los Angeles, we were lucky enough to have a pretty good Industrial dance / EBM scene in the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s. The clubs were amazing, the girls stunning, the beats driving. Jettenbach brings some of these older bands of the era to mind. There are elements of Thrill Kill Kult, Skinny Puppy, and innumerable…
Yukihiro Takahashi – Saravah!
This album works on so many levels. There is a blend of Italian romance, easy listening, French chanson, sophisticated City Pop, bossa nova, a touch of schmaltz, and electro-pop all rolled into one fine album. Drummer Yukihiro Takahashi had just helped form the Yellow Magic Orchestra after leaving The Sadistic Mika Band at about the time this album came out (circa 1978), and his new bandmates,…
Doll Klaw – Thorns EP
As a more-or-less native Los Angeleno who grew up running around clubs in the late 1980s and early 1990s in clubs like Club F**k, DAS Bunker and the like, hearing synth-pop like this makes me feel a sense of nostalgia. Southern California-based Doll Klaw has all the hallmarks of a 1980s indie band – the ethereal vocals, the cold synthesizer, the catchy, dance-ready grooves and a fashion sense…
[Music] VIA Original (ВИА Оригинал) – Sen Kaydan Bilasan (Сен Кайдан Биласан) This Uzbek disco clip is pilfered from the late Soviet Union-era movie "Take Care of the Women! (Beregite zhenschin!)." Though I can find no information on the band, this track does but the "party" into "Communist Party," no?
[Music] antrru – Мрамори antrru is Anton Kiltsov, a producer based out of St. Petersburg, Russia. He makes synthwave music of rather astounding quality, and he is a perfect fit for his home label, Ezhevika Records out of Minsk, Belarus.
