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Review: San Francisco's Dark Entries label does a good line in reissuing obscure, long forgotten, left-of-centre gems (their excellent collection of Patrick Cowley's little known soundtrack work for gay porn films, School Daze, was arguably one of the compilations of 2013). Here, they've unearthed another overlooked gem - Art Fine's previously rare-as-hen's-teeth dark Italo-disco gem "Dark Silence" (L200-plus for an original 1985 copy, should you be feeling flush). It's pretty much a straight copy of the New Wave-inclined original, with the sparser, looser "Long Version" (in which producer Fabrice Belli gives the synth melodies a little more room to express themselves) joining the dense "Art Fine Version".

Review: My Mine were an Italo disco outfit from Bologna, Italy active between 1983 and 1986. Composed of core members Carlo Malatesta and Danilo Rosati plus Stefano Micheli and Darren Hatch, they reformed in 2016 with Malatesta and Rosati together and new singer Ilaria Melis - releasing the new single "Like a Fool". Their catchy 1983 hit "Hypnotic Tango" is one of the essential underground anthems of the scene, so influential that it was remixed by Frankie Knuckles (his legendary 1987 Powerhouse mix is featured on this very edition) and sampled by Detroit innovator Carl Craig.

Review: Hassan Ideddir's 1989 single "Atfalouna" sees an expanded repress courtesy of Dark Entries. Born to Berber parents in Morocco, Ideddir began making music at the age of 10 after being discovered singing in the stairwell by his school's headmaster. Encouraged by his peers, he began playing concerts, and his status grew. In 1987, he played a string of sold-out concerts in Casablanca, Rabat, and Marrakesh, in support of a children's charity. The success of these concerts secured him a record deal, and he went to Paris to record his debut single "Atfalouna" in 1988.

Review: Having released over fifty records since their foundation back in 2009, Dark Entries use the widened exposure afforded by that excellent Patrick Cowley compilation released in the last quarter of 2013 as a springboard to launch a new dedicated 12" series. Retaining their archival approach, the first release focuses on the short-lived Italian act Victrola; formed as a four piece combo in Messina, Victrola slimmed down to the synthesizer and guitar-based duo Antonio "Eze" Cuscina and Carlo Smeriglio and moved to the fertile music scene growing in early 80s Florence. In 1983, the pair issued their one record-shaped contribution to the early 80s Italian synth scene in the shape of Maritime Tatami, a two-track 12? issued on the Electric Eye label. Recorded using the Roland TR303 and TR606 at a time when these models had only been made available, so this reissue of Maritime Tatami from Dark Entries offers a chance for people to assess a slice of analogue experimentation at its most nascent.

Review: Stupendously rare Italo gem from the criminally under-prolific Trieste-based Big Ben Tribe, this quirky poplet first came our way in 1984 on Gong. Last spotted changing hands for hundreds on auction sites, Dark Entries have done the disco world a favour and licensed a reissue. Untouched and naked in all its 80s glory, the synth patterns, abstract lyrics and arrangement were way ahead of their time and clearly influenced many electronic pop and Balearic bands who followed. Vocals just a bit too much for you? No worries, just flip for the instrumental. Tarzan loves summer nights, and we love Dark Entries for unearthing this utter classic.

Review: Peter Richard's "Walking In The Neon" is rightly regarded in some circles as an Italo-disco classic. Originally included under a slightly different title on his 1983 debut EP, it was reissued on a number of occasions throughout the '80s. The two versions here are from the 1986 issue on Holland's Injection Disco Dance label. Richard's full-vocal original - a stylish slab of mascara-clad dark synth-pop with a distinctive Italo-disco pulse - is joined by the little-known instrumental Dub, which strips out the vocal and offers the Walter Beinat's chiming, chugging production room to breathe. Dark Entries' new artwork fits the bill, too, offering an authentic-looking take on Italo-disco sleeves of the period.

Review: When Dark Entries reissue Italo-disco records, they tend to be slept-on or long-forgotten gems. That's certainly the case with International Music Therapy's "Dancing Therapy", something of a break dance-era anthem that was popular in underground clubs around its' 1984 release. The version included here - the 'Special Remix' - is undoubtedly the definitive version of the track, and interestingly sits somewhere between New York freestyle and throbbing, arpeggio-heavy Italo-disco. On the flip you'll find "Love Games", a track from the I.M.S album not included on the 1984 single. It sounds a little like early Pet Shop Boys (who of course were inspired by Italo and Bobby 'O' productions) or Depeche Mode, with bittersweet melodies aplenty.

Review: San Francisco's Dark Entries has a rising reputation for the quality of their Italo-disco reissues. Certainly, many of the tracks they select for re-release are undeniably obscure and in-demand. Blue Russell's "I Wanna Fly Away", originally released in 1984 on leading Italo-disco imprint Discomagic Records, definitely falls into this category (an original copy will set you back well over L100, should you find one). It's a typically fruity concoction, with bold synthesizer lines and Europop-influenced melodies riding a chugging groove. Just like the hard-to-find original pressing, Dark Entries' reissue boasts both the delightfully camp vocal version, and a chunkier instrumental.

Review: As obscure Italo-disco producers go, Clay Pedrini must be up there. During the early 1980s, he released just one single, but it was a biggie. "New Dream", here re-issued for the first time on vinyl by San Francisco's Dark Entries, was a massive club hit around Europe in the summer of 1984. Ever since, it has been one of the most in-demand Italo-disco 12" singles around (for proof, check the shockingly high price original copies sell for online). It has aged rather well, with arpeggio-heavy bottom end, cheery chords and insatiable synthesizer melody still capable of causing commotion on dancefloors. The flipside original version - effectively a dub, with significant re-arrangement - is, if anything, even better.

Review: Unlike some of Dark Entries' Italo-disco reissues, Wish Key's "Orient Express" is fairly easy to come across on the second hand market. It is, though, no less alluring for that, and is most certainly worthy of the deluxe repress treatment. The Instrumental version, in particular - all relentless train noises, delay-laden drum machine solos and sparkling synthesizers - is absolutely killer. Wisely, Dark Entries has chosen to back it with three versions of Wish Key's 1986 single "Last Summer", an almost Balearic chunk of mid-tempo Italo-disco/synth-pop fusion. That, too, boasts a brilliant instrumental version - this time with a pleasingly glassy-eyed ambient build- up and a surprising Go Go Mix.

Review: Analogue synthesizer enthusiast Bezier first surfaced on Dark Entries in 2012, delivering the hard-wired retro-futurist fantasy Ensconced. Two years on, he's finally ready to release the follow-up, the similarly sharp and sci-fi themed Telemores. As with his previous output, the influences are obvious - think Radiophonic Workshop, electro, minimal, new wave and Italo-disco - but he smartly steers clear of pastiche and empty revivalism. Instead, we're treated to a range of dancefloor-friendly instrumental cuts, cyborg jams, and intoxicating robot rinse-outs. Closer "Fukushima", in which he doffs a cap to the synthesized horror-disco of John Carpenter, is particularly potent.

Review: Dark Entries' series of leftfield Italo-disco reissues continues with a double-header from prolific Italo disco session vocalist Helen (AKA Elena Ferretti), whose early excursions on obscure Italian labels Out Records and Discomagic have previously been the sole preserve of dusty-fingered crate-diggers. This EP brings together two of her finest EPs; 1983's scarce "Witch" - an exercise in bubbling, synth-pop inclined Italo-disco - and 1985's arguably better-known "Zanzibar". It's arguably the sparse, cowbell-laden "Afro Mix" - think Cosmic Club era Daniele Baldelli - of this track that steals the show, though all four tracks are shot through with that European strangeness that often marks out the best early Italo cuts.

Review: It would be fair to say that Charlie's "Spacer Woman" is one of the better-known Italo-disco anthems, which makes it all the more surprising that Dark Entries has chosen to reissue it. This is not a criticism, though; they've given Maurice Cavalieri and Giorgio Stefani's original the remaster treatment, and it sounds even more alien, exciting and oddball as it did back in 1983. The original vocal version - all woozy synths, throbbing arpeggios, wonky beats and typically eccentric vocals - is backed by the Instrumental version, which is the preferred mix of choice for many Italo DJs. If it's not in your collection already, it should be.

Review: Chris Garner, Jorg Burckhardt, Matthias Elvers, and Regina Petersen didn't release more than handful of EPs under the Peppermint guise, but what they did put out was as foundational and inspirational as more known electronic bands of the 80s like Liaisons Dangereuses. Dark Entries is responsible for this reissue, of course, a repress of an original going for near 100 bucks on the second-hand market, and this 1983 bomb has that rare characteristic of sounding retro and utterly fresh all at the same time. There's two mixes to the wonderfully wavy "Perfect High", and they both serve their own purpose; the radio edit, as you'd expect, is the one that gets the heads turning, its ominous bass charging menacingly amid the sweeter melodies and classic, new-romantic vocals, while the instrumental makes for the perfect beat companion to any serious cold wave DJ set.

Review: There was a time when original copies of Fantasy Life's sought-after 1985 Italo-disco gem "Over & Over" were changing hands for several hundred pounds online. While prices have come down a bit over the years, it remains a rare and hard-to-find delight. Happily, Dark Entries has saved us all a few bob by serving up this licensed reissue. The original version really captures the charming essence of Italo disco, matching chugging, motorized arpeggio synth-bass with cheery (some would say cheesy) synth-pop melodies and a catchy, impassioned vocal. Turn to the flipside for the dub style instrumental, which reminded us a little of some of Bobby O's early productions for the Pet Shop Boys (who were, fittingly, huge Italo-disco fans at the time).

Review: Dark Entries continues to license and reissue some of the greatest - not to mention hardest to find - Italo-disco ever made. This 1984 single from Italo-disco duo Fokewulf 190 is a great example. In many ways, it's atypical of Italo-disco, eschewing the style's usual arpeggio basslines in favour of a bubbly synth groove inspired by electrofunk, onto which is layered stylish, new wave influenced synthesizer melodies, atmospheric chords, snaking synth-saxophone and a highly accented vocal - originally un-credited - from future Italian synth-pop star Fred Ventura, who was then in the early stages of his career. Naturally, the headline vocal version comes accompanied by a fine instrumental, which is more like a delay-laden club dub in feel.

Review: Legendary musician, DJ and broadcaster Philippe Krootchey was a hugely influential creative whirlwind throughout the 70s and 80s in France. Founder of Love International, frequent Casablanca collaborator with the likes of Lizzy Mercier Descloux and Mathematiques Modernes and an active member of France's foremost gay rights groups, his political and creative messages were clear in every action he made. Originally released in 1984, "Qu'est Ce Qu'il" carries a strong anti-racial message with humour that worked so well he re-sang it English and it eventually became "Whatazzy". Flip for "Hot Voodoo Dub" to find his creative messages as a studiosmith were also very clear.

Review: To accompany their re-release of East Wall's superb 1991 debut album, Silence, Dark Entries has decided to put out the Italian band's forgotten debut release, 1985 single "Eye of Glass". Tending towards the darker end of the Italo-disco spectrum, but blessed with typically cheery synthesizer melodies and skewed female vocals, it's a record that seems far more inspired by the earlier British new wave synth-pop movement than pleasing the clubs of Rome or Rimini. The vocal version is accompanied by a subtly different instrumental, which includes waves of warm synths and offers more prominence to the band's bubbly electronics, throbbing arpeggio bassline, and delay-laden drum machine hits.

Review: For their latest trip into European dance music's seemingly never-ending treasure trove of obscurities, Dark Entries has looked to Germany, and long-serving '80s new wave pop adventurers Axodry (AKA Andreas "Talla 3XLC" Tomalla and Ralf "Ra/Hen" Henrich). "You" was first released back in 1988, and sits somewhere between the eyeliner-clad British new wave synth-pop of Gary Numan and Depeche Mode, and the restless, Italo-influenced dancefloor pop of Bobby Orlando. This reissue edition contains tasty vocal and Dub versions (the latter being particularly potent), as well as a lesser-known Razormaid mix. As a bonus, Dark Entries has also included the bubbly, atmospheric, Euro-electrofunk of "Mechanic", which was originally the B-side of their 1991 single "Losing You".

Review: Those in the know regard Space Art as one of French electronic music's most under-appreciated acts. Active between 1978 and '81, Synthesizer obsessive Dominique Perrier and drummer Roger Rizzitelli were famed for releasing killer chunks of "cosmic pop", before performing them live wearing specially made silver space suits. "Nous Savons Tout", which was recorded and released in 1981, remains one of their most potent singles. Creepy, strange, hypnotic and undeniably cosmic, Perrier's trippy synth parts seemingly rise and fall over Rizzitelli's metronomic, proto-techno drums. Flipside "Melodie Moderne" has an altogether different feel, coming on like a pitched-down, cosmic disco take on the artier side of 1970s progressive rock.

Review: Patrick Keel started his career as a drummer with various unsuccessful bands, before buying a synthesizer in 1980 and forming "one-man-band" The Pool. While he released numerous albums and singles over a five-year period, it's 1983 single "Dance It Down" that has stood the test of time. This Dark Entries reissue features the punchy, electro-influenced new-wave original and spacey Dub from the U.S 12", plus the lesser-known European Mix (closer in style to Italo-disco, though actually made by a Belgian). Arguably even better is flipside "Jamaica Running", where glistening melodies cluster themselves around a proto-dancehall rhythm, and its' stoned, pitched-down alternative mix, "Jamaica Resting".

Review: 1982's "Life Without You..." by the Expansives is a longtime italo disco classic, the sort of tune that makes you pass out upon finding it in its original format in one dusty record store bin. However, it's alright, that's not likely to happen because this is as rare as hen's teeth and that is also why the lovely Dark Entries crew have reissued it for us. The original is magical and explorative, a photo house tune with visionary robotic vocals and FX tricks that make you wonder just what sort of stuff Franco Rago, Gigi Farina and X.Monneret were toking up in Italy back in the 80's. That instrumental, too...so highly recommended.

Review: Zwischenfall were a short lived Belgian trio comprised of Martin Urban, Michael Sass & Stephan Kraemer and who only had two releases: the Heute EP in 1983 and of course Sandy Eyes (1984) that now gets a re-issue on Josh Cheon's always reliable Dark Entries. The title track is sweet, disco infused synth-pop (and definitely a spirit of the time) while "Flucht 84" takes it cues from Moroder or Gino Soccio on this fabulous cosmic disco journey. On the flip are two bonus tracks: "Sacred Time" injects a bit more EBM attitude into it while "Polar Magazine" gets more funky and that keyboard brass section is a nice touch. Fans of the label will find this a welcome addition to the catalogue.

Review: A seminal 81/83 record that epitomised so many sounds and melting pots: synth wave, Italo, New Romantic, electro, proto house... The list of worlds this groundbreaking song traversed is remarkable. Here Dark Entries compile the four versions that were cut during its two key release phases on GC Recordings in 1981 and 1983 in all their remastered glory. Smouldering, moody and still relevant to so much going on musically, this is true piece of history.

Review: Tobias Bernstrup is a contemporary musician and video artist born 1970 in Gothenburg, Sweden. He received an MFA from Royal College University of Fine Arts Stockholm in 1998. Using the visual language of pop culture, video games, sci-fi, classicism and gothic noir, he has created a stage persona with notorious live performances. Dressed in elaborate costumes of skin-tight rubber suits and fetish gear, Tobias' external appearance is androgynous. He raises questions about representation of identity, the body and physical space in both virtual and non-virtual realities. Between 1997 and 1998 he self-released two limited CD-R EPs. In 2002 his debut album 'Re-Animate Me' was released by Tonight Records followed by two limited 12" singles for the song "27" and the Italian version "Ventisette".

Review: Many should already know Codek's "Tam Tam" (sometimes known as "Tim Toum"), a peerless Afro-cosmic classic from 1981 that fused minimalist tribal drums with spaced-out female vocals and sparse, intergalactic electronics. Here it gets the remix treatment for the very first time. Fittingly, it's cosmic disco stalwarts Daniele Baldelli and Marco Dionigi who kick things off with two tasty interpretations: a percussive and hypnotic take that successfully throws some acid-funk guitars into the mix ("Remix A"), and a more spacey, synth-laden affair rich in analogue electronics ("Remix B"). Over on side B, New York duo Whatever/Whatever re-imagine it as a fuzzy slab of coldwave/house fusion, before offering up an extended, club-ready re-edit of the original version.

Review: Angela was the studio project of husband/wife duo Angela and Ingo Werner formed in 1981 in Russelsheim, Germany. Ingo had classical training in bassoon and piano at the Akademie fur Tonkunst in Darmstadt from 1966-70. He joined Krautrock band My Solid Ground in 1971 before going on to form his own project Baba Yaga in 1974. In the late 70s he formed the ensemble AIR with Armin Stowe and Reinhard Karwatky. The project debuted with a a concert at ARS Electronica Competition in Linz, Austria 1980, which they won. Klaus Schulze was on the jury with Wendy Carlos and Robert Moog - but more importantly, Angela was in the audience. Two days later, Ingo told the band he needed a singer, so they asked Angela, and recorded two albums for RCA between 1981-82 before being dropped. Ingo wanted to work on a new project that involved dancers and live video. They recruited American performance artist Jyl Porch, who was living in Munich, to assist with choreography with her friend Kirsten McKenley. Jyl ended up recording her own album first, which gained interest from Klaus Schulze, who helped them secure a deal with EMI in 1983. Later that year, the trio recorded 4 songs that would be released on Angela 'Fantasy' single on 7" and 12" formats in 1984.
The music on 'Fantasy' was completely created with computer software of Ingo's own design. The concept of a polyrhythmic, polyphonic, and polydynamic sequencer was realized by Ingo after a visit to Wolfgang Palm in Hamburg. He paired his sequencer with Palm's legendary PPG Wave Computer System, allowing for more dynamic and nuanced programming. Angela programmed the music, sang, and wrote the lyrics to "Painted Love", while Ingo arranged and played all electronics and keyboards. Jyl wrote the lyrics for "Fantasy" and the slow and sleazy, electronic disco B-side "I Gotta Little Love", where she also sings background vocals and the "hot little flame" rap. The original B-side to the 7" version was a cover of the 1967 Hal Hackady and Lee Pockriss song "Kites", made famous by Simon Dupree and the Big Sound. All songs have been remastered by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. The EP features the original 1984 cover artwork with a striking photo of Angela styled by Jyl in severe Neue Deutsche Welle fashion, and includes an insert with lyrics and and photos designed by Maycec..

Review: If you've ever wanted some straight-up italo disco but then wondered where to find it, where to start, who to ask, then Dark Entries have sorted you right out. As usual, the label come through strong, and this time they reissue an italo disco classic by Brand Image (T.Scarfone and M.Scarabelli) originally released in 19983, and representing the genre with flying colours. "Are You Loving?" contains the 1980's in every sense of the word: quirky, melancholic vocals riding over a grainy drum machine beat, and accompanied by massive synth stabs and an inimitable sort of groove - simply lovely. There's an instrumental on the flip just in case you love the sounds but are slightly scared by the power of the vocals...

Review: As per usual, those fiendish folks over at Dark Entries have amazed us once again with yet another barrel of 1980s gold from the depths of the underground. This time it's German new wave band Boytronic who see a reissue, and the EP in question is 1988's "Byllyant", which features the magnificent Plus 8 mix - a shot to the head made up of warm bass tones and hard-hitting drum machine patterns - and also the US mix, which literally sounds like it was made yesterday; for being an '80s EP, Boytronic steered well clear of cheesy and to be honest, they give New Order a proper run for their money. The 1984 mix of "Trigger Track" is a wonderful electro stormer, stamping its fast beats over eerie pads and growling basslines. This would be silly not to recommend! For the diggers.