New Wave / Post-Punk

Formed in 1991 by David Callahan (vocals, guitars, samplers), also known for his work with The Wolfhounds, and New York musician Margaret Fiedler (vocals, guitars, samplers), Moonshake, named after Can's work, has released its debut album, Eva Luna, in a deluxe edition remastered from analog 1/2" tape. Moonshake, a band formed in 1991 and named after Can's work, reissues their debut album "Eva Luna" as a deluxe edition on blue vinyl, remastered from analog 1/2" tape!

While she was still a member of Nasmak, one of the leading bands of the Dutch ultra-movement, Truus de Groot started Plus Instruments in 1978 with herself as the sole member. When the project evolved, she found a wide range of rotating collaborators like Michel Waisvisz, Lee Ranaldo and James Sclavunos. Plus Instruments was about freedom and the live performances were largely improvised. The sound minimal but captivating. The music always came from within, but De Groot was also triggered by bands like Red Crayola, Suicide, DAF, Wire, Per Ubu, Devo and the No Wave scene in NY. She was always experimenting with primitive multi-track recording and whatever crappy gadgets she could find. Always looking for a gritty, dirty sound and bizarre overtones. At a young age she travelled to New York and began to immerse herself in the nightlife of the city that never sleeps. Here she found true creativity, passion and expression. The club scene was alive but highly competitive, so this fearless Dutch girl would just knock on promoter’s doors to get gigs booked at places like CBGB’s, Peppermint Lounge, Underground and the Pyramid. De Groot eventually settled in the United States and never stopped experimenting with sound. In recent years she reinvented Plus Instruments and led the group into new territory. The recordings for this LP were made by De Groot at home and the music is experimental, minimal, industrial but also playful, sounding nothing like most of the later material. 14 tracks in total of which 8 are taken from the elusive and impossible to find self-released debut cassette as ‘Truss Plus Instruments’ which was sparingly distributed by Nigel Jacklin and his legendary Alien Brains fanzine in 1980. The remaining 6 tracks are from the same period (1979-1980) and were carefully selected from the vast archive of De Groot. We are glad to present this anthology that serves as a long overdue testimony to the formative phase of a unique female pioneer of electronic music. The recordings for this LP were made by De Groot at home and the music is experimental, minimal, industrial but also playful, sounding nothing like most of the later material. 14 tracks in total of which 8 are taken from the elusive and impossible to find self-released debut cassette as ‘Truss Plus Instruments’ which was sparingly distributed by Nigel Jacklin and his legendary Alien Brains fanzine in 1980. The remaining 6 tracks are from the same period (1979-1980) and were carefully selected from the vast archive of De Groot. We are glad to present this anthology that serves as a long overdue testimony to the formative phase of a unique female pioneer of electronic music.

The "Produkt" compilation takes us back to the time between 1979 and 1984, when post-punk was the main expression of the underground movement. Bands in the wake of PIL and Joy Division came out like mushrooms after the punk crush. In this compilation you will find mostly unknown yet interesting productions. This is a 10 track album, all originally released on 7" from all over the world: from Poland to Sweden, from Yugoslavia to Denmark. A perfect item for both enthusiasts and completists but also for those curious, passionate of those extraordinary years and lovers of a genre that still continues to evolve and that indeed continues to storm clubs around the world.

Following the breakup of Cambridge's avant-rock legends, Henry Cow, guitarist Fred Frith moved to NYC in 1979, and soon found himself deep in the heart of the city's robust post-punk and free-jazz scenes. He performed with Bill Laswell and Fred Maher, from the group Material, as a power trio of sorts under the moniker of Massacre. The group quickly garnered a reputation around town, and around the world for that matter, as a heavy and heady band that experimented greatly with rhythm, time signatures, and tone. As Frith himself put it, "the group was a direct response to New York. It was a very aggressive group, kind of my reaction to the whole New York rock club scene." Massacre released one album, Killing Time, before disbanding for nearly 20 years. Their first wave as a group crashed fast and furiously and this one album, recorded in part live in Paris, and in part at Brooklyn's OAO Studio, is a perfect encapsulation of early '80s NYC. In addition to the original album, first released on Celluloid in 1981, this deluxe three-sided double LP includes eight bonus tracks recorded live between '80 and '81 at The Stone in San Francisco, and Inroads and CBGB in NYC. Avant-jazz-post-punk-noise of the highest order from several legends and one of the most important projects Frith and Laswell were ever involved in.

After a ten year pursuit, Efficient Space finally presents Late, Late Show, the last recordings of influential Sydney-via-Newcastle band pel mel. Taped in the mid-’80s, these charmingly unvarnished sessions pare the combo back to their core, producing blue-collar sophisti-pop to a danceable LinnDrum beat. From the funky disco-not-disco of ‘Mr President’ to the effortless pop perfection of ‘Fool’s House’, the six tracks reveal a creatively open and well-oiled pel mel before they inevitably disbanded. Formed in early 1979 as a misfit sextet from steel and surf town Newcastle, pel mel were inspired by New York and UK’s post-punk imports. Cutting their teeth speeding through originals and Joy Division, Wire and The Buzzcocks covers every Friday night to a regular turnout of dole bludgers, students and the under-age, the band would also cross-pollinate with electronic-leaning support act The Limp. In 1980, they decamped to Sydney to join the city’s flourishing alternative music scene alongside the likes of Laughing Clowns, Tactics, The Reels, Wild West and the M Squared crew, making an indelible mark with two albums and several singles as the only domestic signee of Factory’s Australasian licensee GAP Records. Catchy and intelligently experimental without being noisy, their musicianship and enduring legacy continues to be lauded by peers. Undoubtedly some of their strongest output, this previously unreleased demo suite documents pel mel free from the pressures of a commercial outcome, naturally elevating them to a class alongside Orange Juice, Antena and Young Marble Giants.

Ryuichi Sakamoto's third solo work, released in 1981.
This work features Ryuichi Sakamoto's vocals extensively, as he believes that "singing is not about how good you are, but about your voice, and even if you are not very good at it, it is the best self-expression in music". Cutting by Bernie Grundman Mastering in the U.S. Domestic pressing, limited edition of complete production.
Produced by Ryuichi Sakamoto and Robin Scott Participating musicians: Adrian Breaux, Kiyohiko Senba, Yukihiro Takahashi, Haruomi Hosono, and others

“(I have) two fantastic singles by The Particles...they are two of my most prized vinyl possessions” – Carrie Brownstein (Sleater Kinney) on NPR The Particles formed at the height of the punk movement in Sydney, Australia in 1977, and spent their early years hanging out with punk legends The Saints. But by their first recordings in 1979 they were something else entirely – pioneers of infectiously melodic, playfully subversive indie pop. They deserve to be held up alongside contemporaries such as Orange Juice or Television Personalities, and 1980s Bubblegum makes a strong case for this with the first overview of their sporadic recording career. Guitarist Peter Williams and vocalist Astrid Spielman were the core of the group, surviving numerous lineups until the band dissolved in the mid 80s. Other bandmates include members of Chapter DIY heroes The Cannanes and fondly-remembered indie pop band The Lighthouse Keepers. The Particles only released three seven inch EPs and a handful of compilation tracks, but their scant recorded work is laden with inventive, irresistible pop hits. After self-releasing two EPs Colour In (1980) and Advanced Colouring (1981), their final EP I Luv Trumpet (1983) was the second ever release on iconic Sydney label Waterfront Records. This makes The Particles unlikely labelmates with the likes of Nirvana, L7 and Henry Rollins, who all went on to release records via Waterfront in Australia in the 90s. On 1980s Bubblegum, Chapter Music presents every known recording by the Particles, including digital bonus tracks from the first ever Triple J Live At the Wireless session in 1983. The LP features extensive liner notes based on interviews with bandmembers. Sadly, Astrid Spielman passed away in 2015, but the sheer joyful magic of her and Peter’s music lives on with 1980s Bubblegum.

オランダ・アムステルダムにて、1979年に結成された伝説的アナーコ・パンク・バンド、The Exが1982年に録音した7インチ4枚組のサード・アルバム『Dignity Of Labour』が、〈Superior Viaduct〉より、史上初のLP仕様で待望のヴァイナル・リイシュー。フロントマンであるG.W.Sokは、「我々の考える即興のインダストリアル・パンク・ノイズ」とも述べた、The Exの40年以上の歴史の中で最も衝撃的かつ不朽の名作です！24" x 18"サイズのポスターと24ページに及ぶブックレットが付属。

talia Synthetica 1981-1985 represents the musical mutation that occurred after the post-punk hangover gave way to more frigid emotional shores, in-line with the synth-wave moment that was sweeping Europe and the white cliffs of Albion. This scene flourished in Italy between 1981-1985, and the musicians that came out of it are still revered today (particularly in the US). Robotic rhythms and intuitions that, besides sharing common ground with the electronic movements that had come before, also knew how to fill up the dancefloor. Featuring four previously unreleased tracks by Der Blaue Reiter, along with tracks by Modo, Actor's Studio, and La Maison, as well as the still fresh sounding contributions by true pioneers of the genre Neon and Naif Orchestra. Also features Ein-st-ein, Scortilla, Eurotunes, Oh Oh Art, and 2+2=5 featuring Paolo Mauri. LP includes CD which includes five bonus tracks from the Italia New Wave LP (SPITTLE 031LP). Included CD features Jeunesse D'Ivoire, Fockewulf 190, State Of Art, N.O.I.A., and 2+2=5.

The most long-awaited LP release of Totsuzen Danball's 1991 masterpiece 'Yokushi Onryoku'

Totsuzen Danball, a unique rock band from Fukaya, released their 1991 masterpiece 'Yokushi Onryoku' which was sold for a considerable amount of money in the used vinyl market until it was reissued in 2008, and remains one of the greatest albums in Japanese rock history. The unique and extremely sharp sound built around rhythm machines and guitars, and the rebellious poems and songs by the late Eiichi Tsutaki are tremendously exciting. This is punk! This is rock!

leaford Mods will return in 2023 with new album UK GRIM. Throughout their music the duo's poetic protest and electronic resistance has seen them consistency chart and call out their times with an eloquence and attitude that has made them one of the most urgent and unique voices in modern music. Hailed by the likes of Liam Gallagher, Seth Myers, Iggy Pop, Amyl & The Sniffers and a legion of loyal fans whose devotion for the band would rival most sports supporters.

Continuing this sonic vocation on their new album, Jason Williamson and Andrew Fearn's creative evolution now finds them capturing the atmosphere of their era too. Though no strangers to the dancefloor, the minimal yet immersive beats and grooves of UK GRIM's tracks – which include collaborations with Dry Cleaning's Florence Shaw and Jane's Addiction's Perry Farrell and Dave Navarro among them – add a new, physical dimension to Sleaford Mod's sound that makes their words more vital than ever. Music for body AND mind.

After their celestial Arcturian Corridor opened proceedings on Quindi, London-based brothers Clive and Mark Ives are back with a new record. When Woo first began recording at home in the early 70s, Clive and Mark were the embodiment of furtive genius. Since re-emerging in 2013, they’ve released scores of albums, collaborated with Seahawks, and have now struck up a productive relationship with Quindi. On Paradise In Pimlico, you’re hearing a very different sound to the one gently creaked out on early classics like Into The Heart Of Love. This is fulsome, contemporary production rich in detail and artful sound design, but crucially, Clive and Mark’s gorgeously melodic approach remains open and inquisitive, even with the sheen and shimmer of modern studio techniques. Woo sound more confident than ever in their composition, too. The crystalline, fragile tones of ‘Cadenza D’Innocenza’ glide through key changes that spell out an engrossing narrative, while the cascading melodies on ‘Moment To Moment’ pirouette across the space between notes with masterful poise. ‘Paradise In Pimlico’ is an illustrious suite of orchestral composition played out with the lightest touch, framed by the slightest of synthesized fauna and topped off with tender sax and flute. Album closer ‘In Case Love Fails’ takes on a subtly cinematic urgency with its undercurrents of walking bass and the strike of the string section (synthetic or otherwise). There’s space for markedly new approaches, too. The rhythm section on ‘The Motorik Mirror’ clunks and pops with a tactile, high-definition quality which teeters between electronic sculpture and clockwork, organic machination. The deft, lightly-brushed drums coursing through ‘Even More Notes’ see Clive and Mark step into a different mood, celebrating the beat as another fluid, tonally-rich texture in the mix and adding a smoky, jazzy hue to the Woo repertoire. It’s far from a drum-focused exercise though. At every turn, you’re confronted with aching beauty and timbral surprises. If there’s one constant throughout Paradise In Pimlico, it’s the omnipresent chimes. These twinkling drops of light scattered throughout are something of a hallmark of Woo, ensuring the lilting, lullaby-like magic of their music persists whichever direction they head in.

Highly awaited repress of the long sold-out compilation Hearsay I-Land, which encompasses Roland P. Young's 80s foray into synth-pop, dance, funk, soul, and new wave, including the downtempo classic, Ballo-Balla. Includes the I-Land 12" in its entirety, as well as most of the Hearsay Evidence lp.

First official reissue, remastered from master tapes. VINYL ONLY, NO DIGITAL. Recorded in 1981, Dance by Earthling is a cornerstone seminal album of Nippon new wave and synth-pop. The group called their first album DANCE to express the fullest flowers of rhythmic movement, attending to both physical and spiritual needs. Earthling consisted of the couple: lead vocalist/guitarist John, bass guitarist Yoko Fujiwara, plus keyboard/sythesizer player Jin Haijama. The group was formed in Tokyo in 1979 when John and Yoko, who had been fashion and textile designers, felt the desire to give the music they'd written a more permanent environment. The sound of Earthling reinforces the subtle and sensitive connections which link modern music to dance to, with hints of synth-pop, top notch new wave and heavy punkish vocals. Fun fact: "You go on Natural" became a well-known banger in the late 80s in La Ruta Destroy in Valencia, championed by local djs back then. Please note that the artwork was produced at a local Madrid-based printing house to maintain the same aesthetics as the original copies, maintaining the die-cut with the iconic six holes, displaying the blue color from the inner sleeve.

A companion to “The Catburgers - Dreamworld Sessions”, this cassette-only release was recorded at The Rocking Horse Studios in Bathgate in Autumn 1986. The audio is restored from a demo tape owned by journalist Simon Reynolds and contains some of the tracks that made it onto the FELT003.

Bukaroo Bank is actually Mauskovic’s second album. There, the band reinvents both their approach and their sound, while maintaining the rhythm-forward euphoria heard on their debut album and surrounding singles. It is one of those albums that sounds brashly live, like you’re in the room while the jams are being kicked out, but in fact uses the studio very shrewdly. Recorded in 2020, during one of the Netherlands’ intermittent lockdown bouts, for this one the MDB wanted to step up from their previous homebase, Garage Noord – an ad hoc Amsterdam space for recording, practise and after-hours parties. They chose Electric Monkey, operated by engineer Kasper Frenkel. His stacks of what Nicola calls “very strange equipment”, and ability to sprinkle magic dub dust over everything, suited the vibe perfectly. The results glow and shiver with assembled synth sounds, rhythms spliced and echoed in a way that hails late Jamaican dub great Lee Perry – maybe the band’s biggest influence. Some sections might remind you of Afro-disco or slightly older highlife, others industrial prototypes like early Cabaret Voltaire, or 1980s On-U Sound mainstays like African Head Charge, or NYC groovers such as Liquid Liquid... there are outbreaks of saxophone, congas, echo units, wah-wah disco guitars, beats that sound programmed but aren’t (a nod to MDB’s industrial side). If that sounds fun to you, be assured that Bukaroo Bank is an irrepressibly fun album – but one that contains multitudes.

Phew's 1992 legendary solo album "Our Likeness" will be reissued on clear vinyl, limited to 1,000 copies worldwide!

Jaki Liebezait (CAN), Alexander Hacke (Einstürzende Neubauten), Chrislo Haas (D.A.F.), Thomas Stern (Lime and the City Solution) participated! Recording by Kraftwerk , NEU!, Cluster & Eno, D.A.F.

Ectopic Ents is proud to announce the long-awaited vinyl reissue of the second Foetus album, ACHE, to coincide with it’s 40th anniversary. Released under the moniker You’ve Got Foetus On Your Breath, the ACHE album was originally released in 1982 on JG Thirlwell’s Self Immolation label, whilst he was resident in London. It was recorded at Lavender Sound Studio in South London and engineered by Harlan Cockburn. On its release it was acclaimed by the music press, John Peel and even cited by Leonard Cohen on more than one occasion. Over the years the album has become a highly sought-after collectors item. The 2022 reissue was remastered by Josh Bonati and is in a limited run on white vinyl. The album is packaged with a reproduction of the original promo poster from the album, and a download code.

Genji Sawai’s classic LP “Sowaka”, featuring Midori Takada and Bill Laswell, reissued for the very first time. Sowaka will be re-released on February 10th with remastered audio. Sowaka, recorded in 1984, displayed an innovative sound that went beyond genre – mixing dub, world, jazz, electro, hip-hop and avant-garde. A perfect match of some of the most experimental artists of that time resulting in an extremely sought after and singular piece of music of the golden Japanese era. A talented crossover. In 1984, working with Bill Laswell, Michael Beinhorn and Midori Takada would be unlike working with anyone else Genji Sawai had before, pulling him out of the J-jazz experimental scene he was based on. Rather than work off written music, they’d build songs like cooks. Genji might supply the ingredients, perhaps the tonal choices – sax, FM synths, drum machines, and Bill would task himself to do the “cooking”, creating the overall image of the song. It’s the use of imagery to have a conversation with each other, musically, that just felt so different to Genji. Unlike the other musicians who contributed to Sowaka, musicians of impressive, rarefied technique like Midori Takada, Shuichi “Ponta” Murakami, and Kazuhiko Shibayama, notation or sheet music wasn’t a part of Genji’s vocabulary with Bill. With him, drawings were how songs were built from the ether. Whatever image a demo conjured up – that’s where the song had to go. You hear it on songs like “Hikobae” that predicted the chopped and screwed sound that would revolutionize hip-hop years later. On this track what started with a mental picture, of some kind of tree shoot, metastasizes a vision full of no-wave sax skronk dosed with pointillistic dub affectations. Although, Sowaka wasn’t tied inherently to it’s original meaning – the final utterance from the Buddhist Heart Sūtra – it’s philosophical meaning wasn’t too divorced from the true meaning (or at least, his truest meaning) Genji placed on it here: getting things done. Simply put, all his high-minded ideas wouldn’t have come to fruition unless all involved put some serious work into getting the project over the finish line. In five cracking days the album was put on tape and was then jettisoned off to NYC for Bill to put its final touches. What’s fascinating about Sowaka, or at least what will make it so, is just how it perfectly captures a certain atmosphere, somewhat alien to overground Japanese music at the time. Forget about a starry-eyed, futuristic, technopolis. The Japan heard in songs like “1969 (The Real)” is found in its iconic back alleys and constantly changing cityscape. It would use hip-hop, jazz, folk, and world music, to drop its sonic graffiti. That pull of “tradition” trying to co-exist with increasingly hypermodern ideas is palpably heard in music defined by its mix of organic and synthetic instruments paired with hard-nosed melodies. Genji’s Japan, as heard in Sowaka, pulls no punches, it wants you right in the middle of that public maelstrom. It wants you to sonically be there. Behind the mysterious chopped-and-screwed-with jazz of songs like “Hikobae” or the no-wave, nu wave-fried jazz of the titular track, there was a new kind of fusion being presented. Moving beyond world music, there was territory to be uncovered that was even more unplaceable. Somewhere, between the mind, body, and spirit, closer to one’s neck and booty, was this music urging you to simply move elsewhere, further, until you’re closer to where Genji’s music would land. Somewhere between history and his story, there’s still room to rewrite our story by absorbing this spectacular music that remains completely, forever, out of time.

Devo's Hardcore documents the group's beginning as pre-punk outcasts in the fertile Akron, Ohio underground rock scene. Spawned at the nearby college of Kent State, site of the infamous May 4 Massacre, Devo formed as a conceptual art project armed with a radical philosophy of de-evolution. Brothers Mothersbaugh (Mark, Bob, and Jim) and Brothers Casale (Jerry and Bob) along with drummer Alan Myers soon whipped-up an otherworldly brand of "devolved blues" that could hold its own alongside the beatnik groove of 15-60-75 (aka The Numbers Band) or the primal rock poetry of the Bizarros. Recorded on various 4-track machines and in tiny studios, basements, and garages between 1974-1977, Hardcore reveals their strikingly clear vision: rock n' roll stripped bare of its collective cool and jerked back into propaganda fit for post-modern man. It's no surprise that these transmissions would soon catch the eye and ear of Brian Eno who later produced their landmark 1978 debut album. Noisy synth, strangled guitar chops, and a primitive rhythmic thud power the early Devo sound. Threaded beneath it all are lyrical themes of post-McCarthy paranoia, middle-class ephemera, and Devo's long-running topic of choice: sex, or lack thereof. Volume 2 digs further into the band's cranial bunker with the caveman hit "Be Stiff," the space age surf-blues of "Clockout" and even a demented take on bubblegum pop, "Goo Goo Itch." This 2xLP set includes four previously unreleased tracks: "Man From The Past," "Doghouse Doghouse," "Hubert House," and "Shimmy Shake." Superior Viaduct and Booji Boy Records are proud to present Devo's Hardcore to a new generation of spuds, lovingly packaged with Moshe Brakha's stunning cover photography. As David Bowie said in 1977, Devo is indeed "the band of the future."

Ever since he made his first trip to Japan to DJ, Optimo Music founder JD Twitch has been bewitched by Japanese music, and particularly the vibrant, imaginative, and often far-sighted sounds which emerged from the island nation during the 1980s. Now he’s put years of digging in Japanese record shops to good use on Polyphonic Cosmos, the latest release on his compilation-focused Cease & Desist imprint. Subtitled ‘A Beginners Guide to Japan In The ‘80s’, the collection offers a personal selection of Japanese gems recorded and released between 1981 and ’86 – a period when advances in recording and musical technology offered the nation’s artists and producers a whole new tool kit to employ. When combined with the unique musical culture of Japan, where local traditions are frequently fused with Western styles to create timeless, off-kilter aural fusions, this embrace of locally pioneered music technology had spectacular, often unusual results. Eight years in the making, Polyphonic Cosmos provides an endlessly entertaining musical snapshot of Japanese music of the early-to-mid ‘80s with all of the open-minded eclecticism and sonic twists that you would expect from the Glasgow-based DJ. Compare and contrast, for example, the gently breezy, morning-fresh folk-plus-electronics bliss of ‘ばら二曲 Baranikyoku (Fellini&Rota)’ by World Standard – the most familiar alias of long-serving musician/producer Sohichiro Suzuki – and the hallucinatory, slow-motion tribal rhythms, post-punk rhythms and tape delay-laden electronics of Imitation’s ‘Exotic Dance’. Or, for that matter, the tipsy mid-‘80s electronic reggae of Pecker’s ‘Sha La La’, the grungy but melodic post-punk strut of ‘You Go On Natural’ by Earthling (a track Twitch accurately describes as “sheer unrelenting groove”), and the unearthly, swirling sonics, new age instrumentation and flotation tank vocals of prolific (and seemingly mysterious) act Geinoh Yamashirogumi’s ‘Rimme Kohkyogaku Meiki’. It’s a credit to JD Twitch’s curatorial skills that the quality never dips, and sonic surprises lurk around every corner. Consider for a moment the hard to describe, far-sighted audio immersion of D-Day’s ‘Ki-Ra’ – all languid post-pop guitar, enveloping chords, spoken word vocals, shuffling 808 beats and marimba melodies – and the two contributions from video games soundtrack specialist (and driving instrumental synth-pop specialist) Hiroyuki Namba. The collection naturally includes some selections that have long been favourites in Twitch’s DJ sets – see Masumi Hara’s ‘Your Dream’ – as well as a handful of tracks from artists who may be more recognisable to those with only rudimentary knowledge of Japanese musical culture. The great Yasuaki Shimizu, whose work as Mariah has become far better known in recent years thanks to reissues of some of his most magical albums, is represented via ‘The Crow’, a picturesque chunk of horizontal, hard-to-define jazz-not-jazz smokiness, while the collection fittingly concludes with a sublimely funky, oddball electronic workout from Yellow Magic Orchestra legend Ryuichi Sakamoto (the frankly incredible ‘Wongga Dance Song’). Optimo’s JD Twitch extends a guided tour of his Japanese record collection, acquired on DJ jaunts to the Far East and spanning obscurities by Yasuaki Shimizu, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and Normal Brain, a.o. The second release on Twitch’s Cease & Desist label, which delivered the ace Sheffield bleep & bass retrospective in 2020, ‘Sonic Innovations in Japan (1980-1986)’ dives deep into a pivotal era of Japanese music around its ‘80s economic boom time, when leaps in musical technology and recording brought the future into much sharper focus. The selection effectively takes Twitch’s ‘Polyphonic Cosmos’ mixtape (one of many exquisite selections along with Belgian new beat, Jamaican dub, and mooching goth) as jump off point into the rarified realms of ‘80s Japanese music, spelled out in full fat, legit licensed cuts that work equally well as a mixtape in their own right, or component joints to fetishise and send heads scurrying down discogs wormholes. Fans of YouTube algorithms will no doubt be enticed by yasuaki Shimizu’s opening gambit, the sultry lounge stroller ‘Crow’, while the DJs, dancers and Kraftwerk fiends will plug right into the speak ’n spell electro-pop of ‘M.U.S.I.C.’ by Normal Brain, the glittering uptempo disco energy of Hiroyuki Namba’s ‘Who Done It? (Part 2)’ and likewise their Pet Shop Boys-on-holiday viber ‘Tropical Exposition’. There’s also a super juicy cut of bendy-limbed post-punk from Pecker and EP-4, and, for the wee small hours, sexier turns of dry-iced electro boogie glyde on ‘Your Dream’ from Masumi Hara and the breezy beauty ‘Ki-Ra-I’ by D-Day.

ACCIDENT IN HEAVEN was originally released in 1987 as a hand-made micro-edition of about 40 cassette tapes. It was only the third ever release on the short-lived now near legendary SDV label which had been established that same year by Konrad Kraft, Bernd Sevens and Dino Oon in Düsseldorf. Finally finding a more substantial and appreciative audience on vinyl over 30 years after its original limited release, ACCIDENT IN HEAVEN is a strong testament to the explorative experiments of Detlef Funder a.k.a. Konrad Kraft, whose homebuilt studio sound attempted to bridge the clinical roughness of Severed Heads and the psychedelia of Coil with the density and force of industrial, post-punk and prototechno. Concurrent with his ever-expanding production skills, KONRAD KRAFT's sound work in the second half of the 80s stayed firmly rooted within a highly stylised underground spirit. Both his music and also the freshly launched SDV label first and foremost served as a medium for communication. The vital urgency of ACCIDENT IN HEAVEN underlines the record's core narrative which arguably sounds even more futuristic today than it did 30 years ago. Hallmarks of ACCIDENT IN HEAVEN are an 8-track tape recorder, a Yamaha DX7 synth and a Roland 707 drum computer and the late 80s’ internationally ubiquitous shift from analogue to digital music production. Whilst its predecessor ARCTICA (another cassette-only release from 1986/87, previously reissued on TAL in 2018) was significantly more experimental and almost an in-between-states affair, ACCIDENT IN HEAVEN was the point at which Konrad Kraft really began to experiment with beat structures, sequenced synth pads and the framework of 'dance' music. However, the rhythmic elements are submerged so far beneath his expertly crafted drones it's almost impossible to label these sounds as “dancefloor oriented” work at all, as the tracks on the album joyfully disrespect the rules and boundaries of that or indeed any other genre. ACCIDENT IN HEAVEN also epitomizes the decade's ending energy and sharp momentum with its successful merging of highly individual production and irresistible rhythm tracks. The rich wealth of references is mirrored within the silhouettes and the graphics of the album’s unique artwork, which was created by Dino Oon. The new mastering has all sounds on ACCIDENT IN HEAVEN emerge in fresh shades and three dimensional plasticity, inviting the listener not to merely revisit the full palette of KONRAD KRAFT’s creation but offering an entirely new sound experience.

The bastard love child of Elvis and Lux Interior, Israeli guitarist Charlie Megira brewed a heady amalgam of ’50s trash rock, surf-y tremolo, and reverb-drenched goth during his all-too-brief 44 trips around the sun. He recorded seven albums worth of material in 15 years, primarily issued on CD-R, most of which is now unreadable or in a landfill. Armed with only an Eko guitar, a black tuxedo, and his signature wrap-around shades, Charlie Megira was a mold-breaking artist who disintegrated while we were all staring at our phones. In 2006, Israeli garage-nik Charlie Megira took a sonic turn while partnered with Israeli multi-instrumentalist Michal Kahan. The duo wasted no time forging a new path, swapping Megira’s trademark reverb for echo, and guitar-noir for new wave. Their third album together, Charlie Megira And the Hefker Girl is an unabashed continuation of gothy ’80s archetypes employed by Joy Division, The Jesus and Mary Chain, and The Cure. With little impedance, the album fits into Megira’s ageless world of cross-pollinated genres and styles.

** 1st pressing- restricted to 1500 units **An unbelievable post-punk shuffler from 1981, by Tel-Aviv-Brussels band Minimal Compact! This tune is one of our favorite tracks ever and we've been wanting to reissue it since day one. But this is no ordinary reissue! The 12'' includes an unreleased instrumental version plus a spaced-out extended dub mix by the living legend, Mad Professor! Killer stuff as ever from the Fortuna Records crew!!!