Hyperspace Communications US Vinyl & CDs

Review: Baby Buddha was Charles Hornday, David Javelosa, Meg Brazill and Todd Rosa, a band that released just one album in 1981 then a second in 1987. Their debut is a cult classic that brought new ideas to the world of no wave and synth, electro and rock. With its chilly minimal computer beats and post-punk vocal deliveries, it makes for a still future-sounding world of sound that is danceable and atmospheric as it covers classics like 'Stand By Your Man' and 'All Shook Up' in a hugely idiosyncratic fashion. This is weirdly wonderful, playfully scary and artfully DIY music that manages plenty of reference points and ends up sounding like nothing else.

Review: Original compositions for virtual game music recorded in 1995 by Los Microwaves founder David Javelosa. That period in the 90s was one of rare times that Los Angeles was sort of a fun. You'd go somewhere for a drink and hear the late 1950s-early 1960s quirky instrumental pop that became known that year by the "Space Age Bachelor Pad Music" sobriquet. Many of the 14 tracks you are ideally hearing now for the first time were inspired by that long-gone cocktail-glass-shaped crack in time. Made in a tiny Santa Monica studio, surrounded by bits and pieces of torn-apart game consoles, trashed Casios and forgotten keyboards, inventing this set of ephemeral computer-generated sounds. Javelosa remembers what begat the tunes. Thrasher in the Fast Lane, inspired by driving on Bay Area freeways, fast, after hours, an Astor Piazzolla melody blowing with the wind, a party in Mexico City, an exotic perfume, Chet Baker in the background. He's always been fascinated by the concept of computer-generated jazz - still is. The sound of uncertainty, musical cut 'n' paste, excitement when something occurs that maybe has never happened before.

Review: This playfully titled release features David Javelosa (on synth and vocals) along with Meg Brazill (on bass and vocals) plus drummer Todd "Rosa" Rosencrans. Side One features five studio tracks, none of which were included on the band's 1981 Posh Boy LP, Life After Breakfast. Three of these tracks were recorded in '82; there's no information regarding the provenance of the other two songs. The records' second side collects five live recordings, capturing Los Microwaves onstage in New York City (The Peppermint Lounge) and Boston as well as at San Francisco's own I-Beam, a venue that often played host to the band. Those tracks date form roughly the same ear, 1980-83. Sonically the songs variously recall Blondie, Flying Lizards, Gang of Four and a far less dour Human League. Importantly, the band rocks, even when it's employing a spare drum kit, solid but elemental bass, and monophonic analog synthesizers. The stripped down aesthetics of the group - necessitated by its minimalist instrumental approach - are nonetheless thrilling. Even if you weren't there in 1980, this'll take you back.