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Robert Rental takes up residence with Dark Entries again for an expanded double vinyl reissue of Mental Detentions. Robert Rental was a Scottish pioneer of DIY electronic music. Along with his illustrious collaborators like Thomas Leer and Daniel Miller, Rental helped shape the countercultural sound of the UK with his timely melding of Krautrock, dub, and punk. Originally from Port Glasgow, he moved to the south of England with Thomas Leer in the late 1970s, and became involved with the local music scene. Robert Rental however released very little of his solo music - the only solo recording from The 1970s is the 7" single "Paralysis" first released on the homemade Regular Records in 1978, and re-released on Dark Entries in 2020. Mental Detentions was released as a cassette in 1979, the same year as his masterpiece The Bridge, a collaboration with Thomas Leer. Using an assortment of budget electronics - a Roland drum machine, a kid’s Stylophone keyboard, and an Electroharmonix DrQ - Robert takes us on a gauzy, trip, at once expansive and intimate, minimalist and maximalist. “Stuck” is mangled motorik, like Neu! run through a meat grinder, while “Vox” meanders like an 18 minute ambient fever dream. Robert spoke to friends of his frustration at being unable to replicate his sound in a commercial studio - it was these demos' sound that he wanted to create. Sometimes having only access to the most rudimentary of equipment can sharpen one’s craft - necessity is the mother of invention, indeed. This ethic shines in his work, providing a throughline to the now, as the world feels bigger and smaller than ever.

“I’ve had the pleasure of being a [The] Fall fan since I was a teen. I was lucky enough to have some guidance from my local record shop stoner-lords. They turned me on to many of my heroes, but once I heard my first slanted and barky Fall song, I was part of the army for life. The word prolific gets tossed around a lot. It almost seems like a slag-off in the press, as if they wish the artist would produce less so they wouldn’t have to do their self-imposed job of judging releases for the rabble. The Fall is subjected to this lazy word often.Yet I can honestly say that I am so thankful for any nugget of Fall that lands at my feet and in my brain. Live Fall performances are always a pleasure because they seem to take what already made the Fall great and push it even a bit more into the rough and bloody uncharted wasteland that is drug scorched proto-punk and heady political poetry. “So, it is with great pleasure that we introduce this Fall bootleg soundboard recording to you. Recorded during one of the many strong points in the bands vast and mighty history. They really burn bright here and bring every ounce of what you expect from this formidable force. “We have reached out to every surviving member of the band, the sound person, the bootlegger who recorded it and the photographer and received their blessings and help piecing it all together. Castle Face will be donating 50% of our profits to Centrepoint, which helps the homeless in the Manchester area get back on their feet, so the local and deserving Fall fans get a little, and give a little back, too. “Nothing but the hits here folks and as raw as you dig it. This one really is exceptional in terms of live sound for The Fall. All the stars were aligned over St. Helens that eve. And it wouldn’t be complete with a bit of Fall fan saltiness so, fuck you too, Jason.” —John Dwyer

Born Samantha Owens in Liverpool, Jones began her recording career in The Vernon Girls, a female singing group affiliated with the Vernon Football Pools company; they created a popular Beatles tribute album in 1964 with producer Charles Blackwell, who launched Jones’ solo career that same year. Blackwell producer a debut solo LP for Ascot in 1968; two years later, Larry Page released sophomore set A Girl Named Sam, with Austrian wunderkind Mark Wirtz casting her in the broad realm of pop, though most of the songs describe romantic failures. The album thus has a tongue-in-cheek cover of Burt Bacharach’s “I’ll Never Fall In Love Again” and credible renditions of Aretha’s “You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman” and Jackie DeShannon’s “Put A Little Love In Your Heart.” Limited green vinyl 180gr press with one bonus track for RSD 2020.

* Record Store Day Europe / UK 2019 Exclusive Release!
* First ever vinyl reissue since 1981
* Limited to 1,000 copies
* Includes insert with extensive liner notes + obi strip

Strange Disc Records proudly presents the first ever vinyl reissue of a landmark Icelandic minimal Synth album: The Magnetics ‘A Historical Glimpse Of The Future’ (1981). The Magnetics were Jakob Magnússon and Alan Howarth, an intriguing international & iconic duo. Keyboard player Magnússon was an Icelander who already had an impressive jazz resume, while Howarth was making a name for himself as a Hollywood composer – in 1981, the same year that A Historical Glimpse of the Future was released, he also was involved in the soundtracks for two hit John Carpenter movies, Escape from New York and Halloween II. Both have been quite successful in their post-Magentics careers, Howarth with more soundtrack work (They Live, Big Trouble In Little China, Christine etc. ) and Magnússon with various jazz outfits. Jakob would end up working as the Icelandic ambassador to the UK during the 90’s. Throughout the fantastic A Historical Glimpse of the Future album you can hear the soundscapes people came to associate with the 1980s films scored by Carpenter/Howarth. Dark and moody material but with a strange twist as you can hear on the synth cover of “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” & the old-timey cabaret-styled “I’m Getting Married Today”, two truly bizarre pieces that doesn’t seem to fit at all… and somehow by not fitting actually fits perfectly, which is the real story of A Historical Glimpse of the Future. Originally released in 1981 on WRT (and going for hefty amounts on the second hand market), Strange Disc Records proudly presents a deluxe vinyl reissue (1000 copies) containing an insert with extensive & exclusive liner notes from Jakob Magnússon himself. Released exclusively for Record Store Day (UK & Europe) 2019, available in participating stores on April 13.

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.

Small light scuff on side B.