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This Week's Free Song Download
Free song download of "King of Spain," taken from the Tallest Man on Earth's new full-length, The Wild Hunt, out next Tuesday, April 13. Fans of the Scandinavian folksinger's acclaimed debut, 2008's Shallow Grave, will be happy to know that there aren't any major reinventions here, just 10 stunning new songs from one man and his guitar. With a new home on the Dead Oceans label, this will surely be the Tallest Man on Earth's breakthrough record -- it's that good! Minimal Wave Label Spotlight
We're excited to be highlighting one of our very favorite labels, Minimal Wave. Run by Veronica Vasicka, the NYC-based imprint specializes in obscure but always interesting synth-based artists, and over the course of its five-year lifespan has unearthed many classic jams that otherwise would have probably remained all but forgotten. We were thrilled when Stones Throw released an essential Minimal Wave primer earlier this year, no doubt introducing a much bigger audience to the label's sleek, stripped-down and heavily stylized sounds, and soon after we asked Veronica if we could do a digital-only sampler of our own. So here are 14 of our favorite Minimal Wave tracks, this compilation being available for download for one month only -- from now until May 5th. And for the next two weeks, we're sale pricing all Minimal Wave full-lengths on Other Music Digital for the nice price of $5.99!!
The newest entry in Minimal Wave's stellar reissue series comes from Hamburg, Germany's Bal Paré, a wonderful group founded around 1981 who combined cool male and female vocal duets, shimmering synth textures, and snapping machine rhythms into a combination that takes European chanson and cabaret tradition and rejigs its cosmopolitan roots from Weimar and the Moulin Rouge into the neon-lit nightclubs of '80s Berlin, Paris, and beyond. Their approach differs somewhat from other releases on Minimal Wave in the way they flesh out their arrangements with subtle, melodic flourishes and contrast them with sharp, metallic klangtones which remind me of the Italian Futurists. Imagine the electro operatics of Klaus Nomi minus the over the top diva acrobatics, or the grey melancholy of Visage with smudged, rouged cheeks, and you'll get an idea of the shadows in which they lurk. I'm really impressed by the high level of stylistic collusion going on here, but it's the songcraft and the overt sensuality that holds it all together; from their wonderful cover of Serge Gainsbourg/France Gall's "Poupee De Cire, Poupee De Son" to arty masterpieces like "Allez Allez" and "Tokio Oklahoma," and the stunning "Kriminalität," there is a treasure trove of wonderful music to be discovered. This has quickly become one of my favorite releases in the Minimal Wave canon, up there with the flawless Moderne double LP set. Highest recommendation! -Mikey IQ Jones
Hailing from Dijon, France, Pavillon 7b were renowned figures in Europe's cold wave scene during their seven-year existence, appearing on several compilations during the '80s along with releasing a couple of cassette recordings and a full-length before disbanding in 1991. Dark Life is the first complete album in 20 years from the group, featuring early tracks (several culled from a recently unearthed master recording of their first cassette, Overdose) as well as previously unreleased material. This is some seriously minimal, dark, punky synth-wave with a quasi-industrial tinge, all propelled by a primitive drum machine, with urgent, treated vocals sung in both English and French. Fans of the D.A.F./Liaisons Dangereuses school of NDW, early Cabaret Voltaire, or the so young but so cold sounds of Les Visiteurs du Soir, Martin Dupont and KaS Product should hit the download button now. -Gerald Hammill
Somewhere in the Night is a great collection of recordings made by France's Stereo during the early- to mid-'80s. The three opening tracks are full of some totally unexpected workout video/jazz-wave vibes that had Other Music's Karen and me wondering why we couldn't stop listening the first time we played the record in the shop. I kept hearing shades of "Xanadu," Irene Cara's "What a Feeling" and the Blade Runner soundtrack (only imagine Vangelis collaborating with a mellower Visage and a more mysterious Human League and Roxy Music) all rolled into one infectious train wreck. Then the epic drama-dub of "Moonshine" came on. Karen and I both smiled and looked at each other with knowing nods of the head. It all suddenly made sense; embrace this record and don't be afraid. I know the description might sound a bit scary, but Somewhere in the Night actually rules! There is an unabashed sincerity to the entire package that just works. Not only was this a very welcomed curveball from the label when released last year, this was also the very first record on Minimal Wave to be made available ("Gasp!") on both vinyl LP and compact disc, as well as MP3 download. -Scott Mou
Next up is Belgium's Linear Movement with their previously unreleased album from 1983, On the Screen. Featuring Peter Koutstaal, Peter Bonne (from A Split Second, Twilight Ritual, Autumn) and female vocalist Lieve Van Steerteghem, this beautifully mastered LP balances warm, slightly macabre yet effectively versatile synth-pop that's fused with dubby new wave and un-forced, moody disco elements. This is a special kind of album that can move from sexy and synthy to dark and funky effortlessly, sometimes within just one track, in the best way possible. These are songs that grab your attention at the outset and still manage to give more before the track is through. Slinky, decadent and classy cuts like "Way Out of Living," "I Think I'm By You" and "To Another Soul" makes one long for a better world where this stuff would've been on Casey Kasem's American Top 40. (I know Linear Movement may be Belgian, but Nena's "99 Luftballons" was a hit over here, right?) On the Screen also includes "The Game," a jam which was featured on Minimal Wave's Lost Tapes compilation. -Scott Mou
Yet another Minimal Wave treasure, on the platter this time around are French robots Moderne, a group active from 1979 until 1981, who released a handful of singles and two LPs before biting the dust. OM customers may know Moderne via the inclusion of their track "Switch on Bach" on the somewhat infamous So Young But So Cold compilation of French cold/new/synth wave from a few years back. If your appetite was whetted, here we find both of the band's two long players (1980's Moderne and 1981's L'Espionne Aimait La Musique) reissued in full. So how's the music? In a word, fantastic. The most obvious comparison would be a French Kraftwerk circa Computer World or The Man Machine (the albums were in fact mixed at the same Dusseldorf studio Kraftwerk used to record The Man Machine back in '78), but I get reminded quite a bit of groups like Marc Moulin's Telex or many of the artists for which he wrote and produced songs, like Lio and Miharu Koshi. The music is lean, economic, and incredibly catchy, with more warmth than the usual Teutonic textures of this sound, and as such the results are beautiful. There are dancefloor killers ("Sans Signalement," "Sé duction," "Eldorado"), some lonely bedroom laments ("Histoire Ordinaire"), and spades of cinematic flare, particularly on the second album. These records had been absurdly rare for quite some time, so I went completely bonkers at finally being able to hear both of them when they were first reissued last year after only knowing the singles for so long, ensuring Moderne a spot on my Best of 2009 list. -Mikey IQ Jones
While some labels can only release the forgotten dregs of the New Wave era, Minimal Wave consistently busts out with top-shelf obscurities that are reminiscent of tried and true artists, but with their own sincere take on things. This four-song EP from Sudeten Creche features a mix of unreleased songs and tracks originally released in the '80s on S/Phonograph and Illuminated Records. Even after bracing myself for disappointment from the questionable title, Are Kisses Out of Fashion?, I was surprisingly greeted by what sounded to be a more D.I.Y. Human League. Seriously, you'd think the League had made a record for early-'80s-era Cherry Red, the music being synthy, poppy, catchy and even unexpectedly funky at times -- homemade but altogether sophisticated and elegant. Think Human League meets the Gist. Sound good to you? It should! -Scott Mou
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