Electronic & Dance Vinyl 416 Items

Chicago House legend Tyree Cooper reissues this incredibly storied stone cold classic. Though the origin story has been greatly disputed, one thing is certain.. this record bangs. Includes the original, the "acid Crash RX", and a very special rework from fellow Chicago legend Traxman.

Futurismo have the privilege to be the first label to ever reissue one of the most sort out and revered electronic albums of the early 1980’s: Digital Stimulation by Units.

Inspired by punk in ideology, though not necessarily in sound, San Francisco’s Units were a young breed of dystopic visionaries art space prodigies and trash culture futurists set on reshaping sound for a new age. Leading the charge, along with only a couple of others such as Screamers and Chrome, they lit the touch-paper for a new sound, a new scene. A new approach. Equally as influenced by experimental cinema, performance art and Brechtian street theatre as they were the music of Suicide and Devo, Units offered a glorious glimpse into how and what pop music could be. Their influence has stretching all the way through synth punk and new wave pop into the most contemporary electro musicians.

Originally released in 1980, Digital Stimulation was Units true calling card and masterpiece. Containing the now famous opener ‘High Pressure Days’, this is a time capsule brought up from the dawn of the digi-age; all metronomical rhythms, wry lines and ice-cold delivery…part of a lineage that includes Neu!, Tubeway Army, ‘Being Boiled’-era Human League and Cabaret Voltaire, making this a vital recording for anyone interested in electronic music at all – past or present, with original copies selling at extortionate prices this is a release long overdue.

The remastered version of this out of print 1980 LP is presented here in a choice of ltd edition Colored Vinyl, alongside a CD of the album completely remixed in 2020 by Scott Ryser. This deluxe release also contains a 12pg art booklet containing rare imagery and new liner notes.

Original Pressing found in drummer Richard Driskell's archives. Come housed in original unstamped paper sleeve. Units were a synth punk band formed in San Francisco in 1978. This was a private release from 1979. "Synthesizer bands don't normally thrill. Rather, they tend to lull the listener, falsifying and distorting the images and ideas at hand. San Francisco's Units are not that kind of synthesizer band. All four songs on this EP (even the instrumental!) are straightforward, exciting, lyrical experiments in understanding the beast and making it rock. Two machines and a drummer. Not pastoral visions but urban ones. Not peaceful, still angry. Not satisfied, still probing and asking questions. New life brought to old techniques. How surprising. How wonderful." New York Rocker, November 1979

Original Pressing found in drummer Richard Driskell's archives Units were a synth punk band formed in San Francisco in 1978. This was a private release from 1980. "I hate synthesizers but both sides of this make me eat my words. Listen to "I-Night" and re-evaluate the bloated crap that comes out of most electronic groups. Once the singing starts, though, on "Warm Moving Bodies" I throw in the towel. It's some of the lamest vocal arranging ever to be found anywhere and the words are the standard science-art jokes that've gotten as sickly cute as leopard skin on Saturday Night Live. "I-Night" doesn't fall victim to this syndrome, instead letting loose with one of the wildest riffs this side of Metal Urbain. The words are shuddery and bleak, and the vocals tolerable." Slash Magazine, Vol 3 #3

Reissue of early Japanese house outing by Junichi Soma, Shuji Wada and Katsuya Sayo. Comes with insert with liner notes.

All musical movements require a spark to set them alight; in the case of Japanese house music, that spark was provided by the forward-thinking resident DJs of The Bank in Roppongi, Tokyo. In 1989, to celebrate the ground-breaking club’s first birthday, the venue released a 12” EP featuring first-time productions from three of its DJs, Junichi Soma, Shuji Wada and Strong Katsuya AKS Katsuya Sayo.

Widely considered to be one of the first ever EP of house music produced in Japan, 1st Unit was never officially released. Instead, 500 of the 1000 copies pressed were given away at The Bank’s first birthday party, with the rest initially being sold not in local record stores, but rather the venue’s own in-house shop. Three decades on, the 12” is finally set to get its first worldwide release via Rush Hour’s Store JPN Series.

The record has its roots in The Bank’s willingness to give its ever-changing roster of DJs a free hand to play what they liked – at the time a rarity in Tokyo nightclubs, whose musical offerings usually revolved around strictly defined playlists. At The Bank in 1989, it was not only common to hear European body music and the kind of post-disco New York productions associated with Larry Levan’s sets at the Paradise Garage, but also acid house – something not offered at the time by other clubs in the city.

This cutting-edge blend of sounds, combined with the venue’s unique decor (it was modeled on the inside of a London bank, complete with a cashier’s window to take entrance fees), made The Bank a go-to spot for young party-goers, celebrities and forward-thinking Japanese musicians (Ryuichi Sakamoto was reportedly a weekly visitor).

When it came to celebrating the club’s birthday by cutting a unique record, it made sense for The Bank’s owners to turn to three of their most exciting resident DJs, who were assisted by Heigo Tani and Jun Ebi. The collective name, 1st Unit, was chosen to reflect the fact that all three resident DJs were debutants with no previous studio experience.

As this reissue proves, the music remains timeless, magical, and authentic to the sound of American house productions of the period – albeit with occasional twists,. Katsuya Sano’s EP opener, ‘I Need Love’, sounds like a twist on Larry Heard productions of the period – all jacking Tr-909 drums, undulating analogue bass, dreamy Juno synthesizer chords and evocative vocal samples.

The influence of Chicago acid house is also evident on Junichi Souma’s ‘Ubnormal Life’, whose unusual title contains what he says was an intentional misspelling. Driven forwards by restless drum machine handclaps, sweet chords and rising and falling melodic motifs, the track is an energetic and uplifting treat.

Perhaps the most influential of the three tracks at the time – within Japan at least – was Shuji Wada’s similarly misspelled ‘Endless Load’. Deeper and more melodic with a more expansive arrangement, the track’s combination of marimba-style lead lines, tribal drum patterns, dreamy chords and jazz-funk influenced bass offered a loose blueprint for the more successful and better-known Japanese deep house tracks that followed.

First Time ON Vinyl ! Originally released on cassette in the winter of 1984, together with the 7th issue of Komakino fanzine - included here in its original format. 8 groups and 14 tracks revealing the whole meaning of the Afterglow operation. Bands who already had record deals and enjoyed some popularity, others that will do so shortly, others that will fade in the mists of that decade. “Afterglow” is a document from an era when small gestures and uncomfortable choices were true stances

Los Angeles Free Music Society (lafms) formed in the mid-1970s as a loose-knit experimental music collective and multimedia publishing vehicle. Founded by teenage Le Forte Four members Chip Chapman, Joe Potts and Rick Potts and soon joined by Tom Recchion of Doo-Dooettes, Lafms incorporated free improvisation, modular synthesizers, tape music, sampling, musique concrète, homemade instruments, noise, mail art and avant-rock in permissive and anarchic sessions at the Raymond Building and Poo-Bah Record Shop in old Pasadena. Inspired by The Residents, Lafms self-released records and periodicals, organized performances and connected with fellow outsiders via post in the years before punk. Their uninhibited, egalitarian ideal of music-making and DIY distribution would influence generations of underground musicians. Lafms primarily reached outside Los Angeles via word-of-mouth and the United States Postal Service, foreshadowing the self-publishing and cassette trading networks of post-punk and industrial subcultures. In 1976, Joe Potts solicited recordings from Lafms affiliates and admirers to edit and compile I.D. Art #2, utilizing correspondence art's technique of "assemblings." (The first installment in this series was a magazine, and the third was a coloring book.) Potts received dozens of pieces by members of Le Forte Four, Doo-Dooettes, Smegma and Ace & Duce as well as painters, filmmakers and non-artists with few recording credits to their name, creating a delirious, winking sound-art collage of field recordings, voicemails and improvisations. Participants purchased time on the record and received one copy each of the finished LP, realizing the philosophy contained in Lafms' motto: "The music is free, but you have to pay for the plastic, paper, ink, glue and stamps." This first-time vinyl reissue is limited to 500 numbered copies. Comes with insert.

Have you heard of the Nurse With Wound List? If you are a fan of creative-experimental-unlikely music, certainly. You would therefore be aware that amongst the recommendations that Steven Stapleton slipped into the first album of his group Nurse With Wound, were to be found a few restless frogs: Jef Gilson, Luc Ferrari, Jacques Thollot, Urban Sax, Horde Catalytique and last but not least Jean-Jacques Birgé and Francis Gorgé. Stapleton admired their album Défense de. The two Frenchmen just had to conceive of a fabulous precursor to the channel tunnel (check out the inside of the record, you’ll see) to enable Stapleton to come to France in 1980. The Englishman was looking for contributions to a compilation to be released on his United Dairies label that he had created with John Fothergill, and he naturally called on Birgé and Gorgé, who were then playing with Bernard Vitet in ‘Un drame musical instantané’.

It was a done deal and the compilation would be named In Fractured Silence. Alongside Nurse With Wound and Un drame musical instantané, could be heard Hélène Sage (whom Birgé introduced to Stapleton) and Sema, a project from the experimental British musician Robert Haigh who had participated in key records in the Nurse With Wound discography, such as Homotopy to Marie and Spiral Insana.

The curtain is raised and it is Un drame musical instantané who start the ball rolling. Mystery abounds; synthesisers lurk, percussion clatters and the sounds (creaks, whistles, vocal insertions...) fire in all directions. For the piano, it’s a debacle, the Drame won, Hélène Sage can take over. Heading up a quintette including Gorgé and Vitet, she creates a cushioned chamber music with strings and many silences.

On the B side, it’s the other side of the channel. Sema’s piano first off, which dares everything, even melody, before spilling out its darkest ideas in a raucous requiem. Finally, Stapleton appears, delving into his collection of female voices to devote himself to an iconoclastic transformation and concoct a song which collapses under the assault like Marianne at Agincourt. After having listened to In Fractured Silence, you will simply have to choose sides.

Have you heard of the Nurse With Wound List? If you are a fan of creative-experimental-unlikely music, certainly. You would therefore be aware that amongst the recommendations that Steven Stapleton slipped into the first album of his group Nurse With Wound, were to be found a few restless frogs: Jef Gilson, Luc Ferrari, Jacques Thollot, Urban Sax, Horde Catalytique and last but not least Jean-Jacques Birgé and Francis Gorgé. Stapleton admired their album Défense de. The two Frenchmen just had to conceive of a fabulous precursor to the channel tunnel (check out the inside of the record, you’ll see) to enable Stapleton to come to France in 1980. The Englishman was looking for contributions to a compilation to be released on his United Dairies label that he had created with John Fothergill, and he naturally called on Birgé and Gorgé, who were then playing with Bernard Vitet in ‘Un drame musical instantané’.

It was a done deal and the compilation would be named In Fractured Silence. Alongside Nurse With Wound and Un drame musical instantané, could be heard Hélène Sage (whom Birgé introduced to Stapleton) and Sema, a project from the experimental British musician Robert Haigh who had participated in key records in the Nurse With Wound discography, such as Homotopy to Marie and Spiral Insana.

The curtain is raised and it is Un drame musical instantané who start the ball rolling. Mystery abounds; synthesisers lurk, percussion clatters and the sounds (creaks, whistles, vocal insertions...) fire in all directions. For the piano, it’s a debacle, the Drame won, Hélène Sage can take over. Heading up a quintette including Gorgé and Vitet, she creates a cushioned chamber music with strings and many silences.

On the B side, it’s the other side of the channel. Sema’s piano first off, which dares everything, even melody, before spilling out its darkest ideas in a raucous requiem. Finally, Stapleton appears, delving into his collection of female voices to devote himself to an iconoclastic transformation and concoct a song which collapses under the assault like Marianne at Agincourt. After having listened to In Fractured Silence, you will simply have to choose sides.

A compilation squeezed onto a 7” that brings together some of the finest artists active in the Japanese underground. Featuring the talents of Tenniscoats (featuring Undora), Tori Kudo, Yumbo, Kawate Naoto, & Otani Naoki. Each artist has personally chosen a song from the full length record Kumokokudo by LE TON Mité, and made it their own.

Welcome to library breaks *chopped 'n screwed*! Slow (Motion And Movement), originally released on Sonoton in 1980, is super-sought-after and full of crazy dubby, super SLLLLLOOOOWWWWW and super HEAVVVVVY library breaks. It's also home to blinding new age/synthy tracks that are equally great. It's really varied throughout, but all absolutely fantastic.

Slow features KPM/Bruton/Sonoton-legend John Fiddy, the mighty Sonoton founder and composer, arranger and conductor Gerhard Narholz in 2 of his best-loved guises - Sammy Burdson and Norman Candler (get it?) - as well as a couple of fine offerings from Antonio Campo.

Heavy opener "Slow Business 1" is veeeerrrrrrryyyyyy slooooooooow with the phased drums so beloved of Narholz but this time delivered by Campo, with a proud, deliberate piano melody and great bassline adorning the creeping rhythm. "Slow Business 2" is equally as slooooooow but without any melodic decoration. Just pure phased drums, folks! Get sampling. "Moody You" is Narholz's first track on the record and what a beauty it is. A languorous, insouciant, slo-mo guitar soul track with warm synths, electric piano and heavy drums. It sounds a wee bit like an erotic film score, and all the better for it. "Slow Groovement" is Campo's final contribution and it's definitely his best. It's an ace, moody-yet-melodic crime/blaxploitation track with gorgeous percussive elements, mellifluous Rhodes and twinkling piano over a fantastic bassline and drums with some great electric guitar soloing halfway through.

"Slow Reactor 1" is Narholz again, under his Burdson pseudonym, and it's him all the way, now, joined by John Fiddy for half the tracks. This one is a tense, phased, slo-mo thriller with mysterious percussive elements and ominous strings. "Threat To Research" contains mysterious, dramatic sounds and heaps of string-assisted tension whilst "Ion Exchanger" is replete with repetitive, strange accents and sounds; all half-tumbling drums and dead tense, again. Truly, a taut experience and ideal for adventurous sample-based beat-heads. "Wave Motions" is a real highlight and the first to feature John Fiddy. It's a beatless ambient banger with slowly changing sound waves. It sounds like Angelo Badalamenti would if he were crafting strung-out teutonic library madness in 1980. The A-Side closes with "Slow Motion Link" which is over waaaay too soon but just simply needs looping. Trust us. Phenomenally dope!

Flip over for "Scenic Vision 1" for here, ladies and gentlemen, we go sublime. It's an absolutely stunning ambient wonder, with slowly changing textures and colours that create a peaceful, gliding, tranquil atmosphere of sheer bliss. You will not want it to end. Whilst "Scenic Vision 2" adds a bass melody, "Scenic Vision 3" uses the same melody but renders it isolated and lonely in the background. Haunting, hypnotic and hyper-beautiful. "Study In Brown" is s a lengthier number, with room to stretch out, and features Fiddy back in the game. Again, a slow, isolated melody gradually segues - by way of Fiddy's mournful electric guitar solo - into a slow heavy rhythm with rumbling, groovy bass and stratospheric drums.

"Deja Vu 1" weaves swirling, disorientating magic. It's described on the original sleeve simply as "indefinite arpeggios inexplicable vision" and we can't put it any better ourselves. "Deja Vu 2" sounds like you've heard it before, it's "as above with melodic line" and really is fun. "Glistening Surface" sounds exactly as you'd expect, all frisson-inducing movements, slow waves and generally peaceful scenic sounds. This remarkable library record closes with "Laser Fight", blasting "utopian percussive sounds" that totally get under your skin like fireworks through your veins. A neat trick!

Established in Munich in 1965 by Gerard and Rotheide Narholz, Sonoton introduced library music to Germany. Initially intended to cater to the country's new TV market, the library also provided an avenue for Gerhard Narholz's astonishing musical prolificacy, and soon became a haven for a wide range of European composers and musicians. In 1969, Sonoton struck a deal with the British label Berry Music for international publishing rights, exposing its catalog to a worldwide audience; when Berry was bought out by EMI in 1973, Sonoton transitioned into a full-fledged international label, with successes in the library and commercial fields and many innovations to its credit. Now a worldwide operation with hundreds of producers and composers under its employ, Sonoton nonetheless remains an independently run business still helmed by its founders - a remarkable achievement in an era when nearly every other major library has been absorbed by a multinational conglomerate.

The audio for Slow (Motion And Movement) has been remastered by Be With regular Simon Francis, ensuring this release sounds better than ever. Cicely Balston's expert skills have made sure nothing is lost in the cut whilst the original, iconic sleeve has been restored here at Be With HQ as the finishing touch to this long overdue re-issue.

Celebrated new wave compilation from Japan reissued for the first time on Glossy Mistakes.
A much-cherished gem from the 1980s underground Japanese music scene returns as Soft Selection 84 is reissued by Glossy Mistakes for its 40th anniversary. Originally released on DIY label Soft, the compilation sees 13 tracks from nine acts spanning minimal, ambient, zolo and more for a beguiling listen.
The result is a charming time capsule of eclectic creativity in which nothing sounds dated. Take La Sellrose Can Can, whose two party jams predate Kero Kero Bonito's hyperpop by decades. In addition, an impeccable remastering from the original master tapes adds to the "could have been recorded yesterday" feel of the collection.
Soft Selection 84 also includes the eccentric Picky Picnic. One of the few featured artists with recordings beyond the anthology, the trio is an essential act for those curious about Japanese art pop of the era. There is also new wave introspection from Name, whose "Do We All Need Love" plays out as a sensual nod to John Lennon. In a similar vein is Clä-Sick, the recording name of Goro Some, the compilation's original producer and founder of Soft.
The record's rerelease comes with Some's blessing, along with his original artwork and photography. Ultimately, the listener is left tantalised by his selection and its bold excursions into no wave, synth pop, radioplay and bizzaro house. Most of the artists on this release would fade into obscurity, but the transient nature of the potential showcased has helped cement the compilation's reputation over the years.
Soft Selection will be released on vinyl LP by Glossy Mistakes on March 2024, with a remastering from the original master tapes.

Technical innovations in musical instruments and the development of tonal language have been continual subjects for deliberation from the 19th century onwards at the latest. Additional brain power is necessary to conciliate the two elements with the endless possibilities of electronic sound. In the end, the two factions cannot resolve on a conclusive opinion and the question remains as to whether art always results from skill.
Evángelos Odysséas Papathanassíou, or Vangelis for short, always worked with the newest synthesizer equipment and pushed his cascades of sound to the very edge, right up to the point of electronic overkill. In contrast to many other electronics experimentalists of his time, Vangelis likes to »create important melodies and to develop them further, without going under in the technical equipment« (Stereo Review). Distant human voices, siren-like lost calls lead into oriental dance. A song – far removed from its era – somewhere between Gregorian music and antiphony – a will-o‘-the-wisp, shimmering sound. Polyphonic playing on the Bösendorfer reminds one that every form of musical expression from over the sands of time is welcome. Each listener must discover for himself what sounds heavenly or hellish. But let it be said: musically speaking, the one cannot be imagined without the other.

This Speakers Corner LP was remastered using pure analogue components only, from the master tapes through to the cutting head. More information under www.pure-analogue.com.
All royalties and mechanical rights have been paid.

Recording: September 1975 at Nemo Studios, London, by Alan Lucas
Production: Vangelis

After the experience of Camizole, Dominique Grimaud began a new adventure in 1979 with Monique Alba. Alongside Gilbert Artman (Urban Sax), Guigou Chenevier (Etron Fou Leloublan), Jean-Pierre Grasset (Verto) and Cyril Lefebvre (Maajun), Vthis LP is composed of instrumentals capable of reconciliating Captain Beefheart, Henry Cow, Suicide and John Barry.

Videosex was the biggest Yugoslav electronic pop band, formed in Ljubljana in 1982. Their singer Anja Rupel sung on Laibach 1988 version of the Beatles' 'Across the Universe' and their drummer Iztok Turk produced early Laibach records. The release of their eponymous debut album in 1984 and the subsequent major l ive and TV performances propelled the young band into major stardom. The follow-up was highly anticipated: in March 1985, Videosex released Lacrimae Christi to critical and general acclaim. In comparison with the first album, the production on the Lacrimae Christi was state-of-the-art, as the most modern recording and composing techniques were used. The songs "Sivi dan" ("Gloomy Day") and "Tko je zgazio gospođu mjesec" ("Who Ran Over Mrs. Moon") became nationwide hits.

Venezuelan Electronic Music Pioneer Vinicio Adames Synth-Pop Masterpiece from 1985. With 23 years of age Vinicio Adames self-produced and self-financed his 1st Album “Al comienzo del camino". Released in its time in Venezuela only, the album has been unavailable for decades. A complete restoration of the masters for this release, makes this album available now for the first time in fine audio quality.

Emotional Rescue celebrates a decade of reissues by again pulling deep from the well with the first of several French avant albums over the coming year. The self-styled "Ethno-Industrial" Vox Populi! present their 1989 Aither album, remastered and repackaged with love nearly 30 years later. Initiated by artist Axel Kyrou in 1982, Vox Populi! was soon joined by long term collaborator Pacific 231 on a series of coldwave/industrial cassette only recordings. Things changed considerably, however, with the meeting of the siblings, Mitra and Arach in 1984. The consequential use of "traditional" instruments and, especially, his wife Mitra's Persian folklore vocals gave a specific tonality, incorporating the band's expanding passion for oriental sounds, electronics and psychedelic music. Involving numerous musicians and friends in often-spontaneous studio sessions, the melting pot of varied cultural backgrounds added ethnic, electronic, concrete music, funk, dub and experimental flavours. This feeling of the subjective absence of the artist was achieved via a communal way for making music, but still with an aim to entertain while leading the listener to experience something unique - mind elevating, non-egotistical, ethereal music - all pushing the intellect towards a more artistic transparency. Welcome to Aither.

Inspired by the original Industrial Records release of William S. Burroughs's Nothing Here Now but the Recordings Belgian record label Sub Rosa worked with Burroughs to release another album: Break Through In Grey Room. Originally compiled in 1986 by producer Bill Rich, the album features Burroughs's experimental recordings from 1961 to 1976, featuring field recordings by Burroughs of the Master Musicians of Jajouka, experimental collaborations with mathematician Ian Sommerville and painter/cut-up originator Brion Gysin. Break Through In Grey Room documents William S. Burroughs during his time in Europe and England, working with Ian Sommerville on recording with the 'cut -up' technique. Sommerville's technical background enabled him to contribute to the early development of sound - and - light shows in London, leading to work with gear provided by Paul McCartney in an apartment owned by Ringo Starr. Experimental in nature, the record is as much an exhibition of studio and composition technique as it is a document of underground culture at that time. For the 2023 reissue, Dais Records has collaborated with the Estate of William S. Burroughs on reissuing the album on vinyl and compact disc, fully remastered by mastering engineer Josh Bonati.