Tags: Disco Not Disco

Review: Dark Entries is back with Back Up Dos: Mexican Tecno Pop 1982-1989, which is a much-warranted follow-up to 2021's Back Up. This compilation features ten tracks of synth-pop and New Beat with seven previously unreleased on wax. It highlights the evolution of Mexico's DIY music scene as it moves from post-punk and new wave to aggressive EBM and cyberpunk. Reflecting the political turbulence of the era which was marked by rising drug cartels and conservative shifts, these tracks showcase how bands used home recording and drew inspiration from the Human League and Wax Trax Records while also including pop anthems by Casino Shanghai and Los Agentes Secretos, alongside rarities from Ford Proco and Maria Bonita.

Review: This posthumous release offers a fascinating glimpse into the life and music of an enigmatic artist whose haunting voice and unique sound impressed listeners in the late 80s and early 90s. The collection brings together a treasure trove of previously unreleased tracks recorded between 1985 and 1995, showcasing the artist's diverse range that spans new wave, synth-pop and even house music. Each song is infused with her distinctive, smoky vocals, delivering a powerful emotional punch whether it's a haunting ballad or a danceable groove. The album demonstrates the artist's ability to transcend genres, with some tracks offering an updated, new-wave twist on her most iconic hit, while others dive into experimental soundscapes that reflect her creative depth. The compilation is a poignant reminder of her brief but impactful career, as well as the mystery that surrounded her life after her rise to fame. Accompanying the release is a documentary that delves into the artist's journeyifrom her early days as a taxi driver to her rise to cult status, followed by her disappearance from the music scene. This music, long hidden away, offers a powerful reflection on a life marked by both brilliance and tragedy, providing fans and newcomers alike with a chance to experience the full breadth of her artistic legacy. This version is available on 'summertime' green vinyl.

Review: A compelling selection of unreleased tracks from influential Italian artists and producers who continue to shape the underground electronic scene. The project features a mix of electro, synth-pop and new wave, each track pushing boundaries and exploring new sonic frontiers. Rimini Metafisica, led by Paolo Gozzetti (known for Sigma Tibet and Italoconnection), presents a fresh exploration of sound, while TenGramsione of the Piatto brothers' aliasesidelivers dark, minimal synth with an essential edge. Diego Montinaro, aka Sandiego, contributes a cybernetic ballad, while Mono Han, another Piatto project, shines with bright, authentic synth-pop, powered by a Linn Drum and Roland Jupiter 8.Other standout contributions include Deep Field, a synth-pop venture from Danilo Carnevale and Castelli's new-wave disco track. Fogli and Ventura's collaboration brings isolationist minimal synth, while Through Twelve offers a post-punk-synth-pop blend with contemporary flair. Body System, a collaboration between Enrico Colombo and Ventura, aims to revive the EBM sound and Italoconnection, with Francesca Gastaldi, presents a "lost" track reinterpreted by TenGrams in a Kraftwerkian style. Spittle Italy continues to bring out some excellent compilations for their followers.

Review: Dark Entries looks to Portugal for this new and swinging collection of vintage Iberian synth, post-punk and wave. Rock Rendez Vous: Musica Moderna Portuguesa 1985-1986 is the sound of a legendary club which opened in 1980 and helped to usher in a new wave of sound for local emerging bands. They drew from national musical identity and fused it with contemporary international influences and came up with some of the prime indie tunes you hear here, from brooding post-punk 'Levante' from Jovem Guarda to more playful and Balearic-laced synth-pop stunners like D. W. Art's 'Mate'. This one is perfectly presented with a double-sided insert featuring lyrics and liner notes.

Review: A fascinating new slice of neue Deutsche welle from the artist Eine Welt. The track romanticizes the traditional Middle Eastern dish, Knafeh, through the lens of post-punkish electronics, German rawism, and myriad layering and production. The fact that an artist would go to such great pains to record, master, press and distribute a song with such a niche subject matter truly shows the power of Turkish cuisine. Clearly, even in back the '80s, there was mutual cultural appreciation between the Germans and the Turkish.

Review: For the last ten years Japan's reissue market has blossomed into one of the most fruitful for western listeners eager to explore very rare Japanese releases and artists from the 70s and 80s specifically. In no other genres has this been most displayed then in the new age, ambient, folk and synth realms. Alfa/Yen Records 1980-1987: Techno Pop & Other Electronic Adventures In Tokyo follows this fantastic era of passing on to a new generation. This compilation features many luminary figures in the Japanese scene with an extra emphasis of it honing in on Yellow Magic Orchestra and its members. After the popularity of similar compilations in the past five years, this looks to be one of the most successful reissues of Japanese electronic music in 2024!

Review: A long-overdue revival of an underground German gem from 1984, Jurgen Grah and Markus Kammann crafted a sound that fused early new beat, synth-pop and electro with a sharp sense of groove. Collage's 'Mit Den Puppen Tanzen' resurfaces as making it a hidden treasure for fans of forward-thinking dance music. The title track is a sleek blend of disco and electro, layering pulsating synths over a club-ready rhythm that still feels ahead of its time. 'Schwarze Nacht' twists post-disco elements into something funkier, reinterpreting familiar grooves with fresh energy. 'Harter Film' leans further into an edgy new wave sound, its electro beat driving a tense yet undeniably danceable atmosphere. Balancing underground cool with accessible hooks, this is a record that effortlessly bridged electronic experimentation and dancefloor appeal. A vital listen for those who appreciate the history of an exciting time between post-disco, house music and the 80s new wave sound.

Review: The Outer Edge reckons that this first release on their label is one of "the rarest and simultaneously best-recorded independently released German new wave singles in history." Bold words, but probably not far wrong. 80s outfit Total wrote it as the first and title single for an album deal they signed. It's a killer cut with hints of 'The Message''s hip-hop rhythm and alluring female vocals over a lush bassline from the Jupiter 8 keyboard and DMX drum machine funk driving it along at such an inviting mid-tempo. The withering cosmic keys add extra spacey goodness and here it comes with a couple of alternative mixes, though the OG is really the one.

Review: Avant! enlist the services of roster-shifting Italo disco project Male Tears to envisage the 'Paradisco', a clever portmanteau that invites us into further speculate on the term as a thought experiment. Indeed, a disco thrown in paradise is the obvious imago; less obvious is the observation of a very real zeigeist; that all discotheques today occur in a sort of para-situation, in a space that is a cut above normalcy, thrown in discrete fantasy spaces. Male Tears know this all too well, with such escapist flights of fancy as 'Sex On Drugs', 'Regret 4 Nothing' and 'He Wants Everything' eliciting surreal extremes of emotion, with their reverb-laden voxsynth patches, insouciant masc-femme vocal switches, and longing hooks reminiscent of Talk Talk or Liquid Sky.

Review: Following their debut with Monochromatic, the Milano 84 duo of Fabio Di Ranno and Fabio Fraschini returns with Ultradisco, an album that sharpens up their signature style. Combining synth-pop, new wave and Italo disco with modern flair, this record includes 11 tracks in both English and Italian and offers an emotional, refined sound for modern dance floors. Collaborators include Johnson Righeira with a futuristic twist on Franco Battiato's classic 'Summer on a Solitary Beach' and Anita Dada alongside Fabrizio Massara on the poignant 'Darling.' Fred Ventura energises the album with 'The Right Words' and serves as artistic supervisor for this essential 80s-inspired collection.