2010s 244 Items

VON SPAR feiern das 10-jährige Jubiläum ihres wegweisenden 2009er Albums "Foreigner" mit einer Neuauflage der lange vergriffenen LP. "Foreigner" ist ein Science-Fiction-Album, vollgestopft mit trippigem Pop, dessen Stimmung durch unerschlossenes Terrain taumelt, ohne den Blick in den Rückspiegel zu vergessen und dem Hörer dabei genügend Raum für eigene Imaginationen lässt. Die Spanne reicht von elektrifizierten Pop- und Krautrockelementen über Fusion-Experimente bis hinzu clubkompatiblen Elektrotracks. - Format: 140g schwarzes Vinyl, das Album-Cover kommt in Aluminiumkaschierung mit Silberdruck und Glanzlack

Formed in Madrid in 1979. Influenced equally by Dadaism and Futurist ideas as by the contemporary sounds of bands such as DEVO, THROBBING GRISTLE or CABARET VOLTAIRE, they started creating their own brand of electronic music. Soon after the band won the third prize of a local Battle of The Bands show and were given a record deal as a prize that resulted in La Chica De Plexiglás 7" (Movieplay-1980) and La Vision 7" (Movieplay-1981) both of which were recorded at the same session with a third 7" recorded but not released at the time. Faced with the total lack of interest showed by the label and feeling alienated in a Music World which wasn't the one they dreamed of, they decided to do what dozens of their peers were doing worldwide; They started their own label, Discos Radioactivos Organizados (DRO) following the steps of Factory or Industrial Records. Faced with the exit of three members who left the band to form a more radical band (ESPLENDOR GEOMETRICO), AVIADOR DRO entered Doublewtronix studios to record Nuclear ,Sí, marking the birth of the Independent Music Industry in Spain. The four tracks on the EP became instant classics with Nuclear Sí being the absolute standout track, while Varsovia en Llamas, Sintonia Del Refugio Atomico and Godzilla were perfect nuggets of Synth-punk who remain amongst the greatest Spanish Pop songs ever. Originally hand-assembled, hand-coloured, self-released and distributed in the total DIY spirit, the first release of DRO remains a perfect example of what a bunch of teenagers can achieve armed with just their youthful energy and idealism. Nuclear, Si, was repressed three times and has been out of print since the early 80's.

Her second full-length album, Look Up Sharp , on her own Kallista records. Look Up Sharp is an evolutionary leap from the thick fog and pastoral stillness of her Blackest Ever Black missives, You Know What It's Like (2016) and The Garden EP (2017). Three years since her plain-speaking debut album, the Melbourne-via-Berlin artist finds herself absorbed in London's sprawling mess. The small-town dreams and inertia that preoccupied dal Forno's first album have dissolved into the chaotic city, its shifting identities, far-flung surroundings and blank faces. Look Up Sharp is the story of this life in flux, longing for intimacy, falling short and embracing the unfamiliar. Dal Forno connects with kindred spirits and finds refuge in darkened alleys, secret gardens and wherever else she dares to look. In her own territory between plaintive pop, folk and post-punk dal Forno conjures the ghosts of AC Marias, Virginia Astley and Broadcast through her brushwork of art-damaged fx and spectral atmospheres. The first half of the record is filled with dubbed-out humid bass lines, which tether stoned hazes of psychedelic synth work as on 'Took A Long Time' and 'No Trace.' These contrast with songs like 'I'm Conscious and 'So Much better' that channel the lilting power of YMG and are clear sequels-in-waiting to dead-eyed classics like 'Fast Moving Cars.' The B-side begins with the feverish bass and meandering melody of 'Don't Follow Me,' which takes The Cure's 'A Forest' as its conceptual springboard. It's the clearest lyrical example since 'The Garden' of dal Forno's unmatched ability to unpick the masculine void of post-punk and new wave nostalgia to reflect contemporary nuance. Look Up Sharp reaches its satisfying conclusion with 'Push On' - dal Forno's most explicit foray into an undiscovered trip hop universe between Massive Attack and Tracey Thorn. The album's last gasp finds personal validation in fragility: 'I push on / I'm the Place I'm Going,' a self discovery lifted by reverberant broken beats and glass-blown...

COMA’s new album, Voyage Voyage, casts a sweet and heavy-hearted hypnagogic glow that tells the story of these complicated moments through its complex web of sonics. Across ten pristine tracks, the pair meld piano, guitar, drums, synths and electronic flourishes to futuristic vocal harmonies that amp up the melancholic pop factor and capture life’s fleeting moments, moods and adventures. One of the album’s standout tracks, “Snurrebassen”, was written during a fishing trip to the Baltic Sea. Fusing a pop sensibility with dance music’s communal properties, the German duo of Georg Conrad and Marius Bubat create music rich in melody and often melancholy. COMA’s repertoire occupies an emotionally-driven corner of the electronic music spectrum, where dynamic soundscapes collide with honest lyrics. Having initially signed to Cologne’s electronic label Kompakt, COMA may have their roots firmly in the city’s fabled club scene, but their effervescent, groove-tipped synth-pop blurs boundaries and strays outside the lines. Their new home of City Slang (Caribou, Gold Panda, Tindersticks) is the perfect fit for their hypnotic brand of indie-electro. “We’ve never been ravers,'' says COMA’s Marius Bubat. “Although we have definitely been inspired by the energy of club music”

A living room somewhere in southern Germany. Embroidery graces the walls, a veneer side table with little chrome feet stands in front of a beige velour sofa, a minibar awaits. Pride of place goes to the electric organ which majestically occupies the centre of the room, flanked by two oversized loudspeakers. Welcome to the world of OTTO. the two-man band are set to release their long-awaited debut album in 2019 on Bureau B. The eight tracks contain familiar OTTO ingredients, from organ sounds and rhythm presets to disco strings and the monophonic waves of a 1970s synthesizer. Arpeggio and Hohner notes add extra sharpness to the proceedings. Classics from their live repertoire sit alongside brand new numbers, invariably strange synthesizer compositions.