Dark Entries 1970s 2 Items

Konstruktivists are a UK Industrial group formed by Glenn Michael Wallis in 1982 out of the ashes of Heute. In the late '70s/early '80s Wallis was heavily involved with Throbbing Gristle and the Industrial Records crew. Influenced by Krautrock bands like Can, NEU!, Cluster/Harmonia as well as Tuxedomoon, Yello, Chrome, SPK, and early Clock DVA, Glenn began to record his own material. After several cassette releases through Flowmotion under his own name, Konstruktivists’ first LP A Dissembly was released in 1982. To record A Dissembly, Glenn went into IPS Studio in Shepherds Bush, London. Glenn played synthesziers, percussion and vocals, with help from Dave Rouse (guitar), Adrian Grover (piano, tape loops) and Dave Kenny (engineer, treatments, tapes). The equipment used for this album includes a Korg MS-20, Casio MT-40, Roland TR-606 and TB-303, Korg Space Echo 555 and an Eventide Harmonizer previously used by Throbbing Gristle. In the studio was an old broken piano which was recorded with two microphones onto an 18 foot tape loop. Chris Carter of Throbbing Gristle modified Glenn’s TR-606 with separate outputs for snare and bass drums to help create the slap back snare sound heard through the album. Konstruktivists create their own brand of Industrial using tape loops and lurching rhythms arched by droning melodies.

All songs have been remastered for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. The record is housed in an exact replica of the original jacket, featuring a black and white photograph of a church by Dave Byatt and hand lettering and line drawing by Lorna M. Each copy includes a 2-page double-sided 8×11 insert with liner notes by Glenn Wallis, press clippings, and photos, plus a bonus flexi-disc containing the song “Smack,” which was recorded during the same session as A Dissembly.

Drama were the Canadian duo of Eric Simpson (Vocals, Bass Guitar, Guitar) and Don Stagg (Keyboards). Formed in in Mississauga, Ontario in 1978, the pair had previously played together in progressive psych bands Majik and VIIth Temple. Almost every Saturday, Eric and Don would record one song on a TEAC 4 track tape recorder after a couple of takes with very little over dubbing. The pair were influenced by what was playing on the radio during the recording sessions. Everyone else at that time was in a rock or pop band yet Drama were making electronic music. The pair released their debut LP ‘Loneliness’ on Psycho Records in 1979. There were 500 albums made and about 200 ended up in the garbage as band members shuffled from apartment to apartment. This was followed by a 4-track 7” later that year featuring live drums and additional guitar.

Seance Centre says it best, “On Loneliness, the pair traded in their velvet and chord charts for thin ties and a cheap drum-machine. The LP still carries a whiff of patchouli, but the sound stings of solder and electricity, and inhabits a nascent zone somewhere between krautrock and new-wave. The vocal cuts are all clustered on the A-side, starting with an ode to the inefficiency of the Toronto Transit Commission - some things never change! The dystopian sci-fi themes are par for the League, and highlights are the love ballad “Anna King” and the charming “Feable”. The instrumentals on the B-side feel decidedly more Teutonic, and have a certain CBC charm that sounds like JP Decerf recording for Parry Music. It even opens with a slinky stoned Pink Panther.” For this first time vinyl reissue we’ve expanded to a double LP with a bonus album of the 4 songs from Old Hollywood 7” and 9 previously unreleased tracks and demo versions. All songs are remastered for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. The vinyl comes housed in a jacket with original photo by Don Stagg taken from his apartment rooftop overlooking Toronto of a young teenager sniffing glue and includes an insert with photos and liner notes by Drama.