Back catalogue: Coldwave/Synth

Review: Dan Andrei is arguably one of the finest selectors of this generation and a master minimal producer who makes electronic music of the highest order. His latest outing sees him inaugurating his own brand-new label alongside Claudiu Stefan. Rainbow Hill is a platform for their more personal ideas and starts with four more of Andrei's brilliantly deft yet dramatic tracks. 'Numan's Touch' kicks off with rolling drums and bass and a fine eco-system of cosmic pads, twinkling keys and fizzing synths that are theatrical and involving. 'What Else?' then gets darker and more intense with heady loops and wispy pads, and again the ante is upped and the darkness pervades once more on the tense and taught dub-tech roller 'This Is What I See'. Last of all, 'Bluer Than Ever' floats above the floor with airy pads and radiant chords. A perfect 5am vibe.

Review: Codek is the brainchild of Jean-Marie Salaun who grew up in Paris influenced by the folklore of the inner city. In 1978 he joined art rock group SpionS alongside Gregory Davidow and recorded two singles. Diving into the Paris post punk scene he met Claude Arto and designed the artwork for Claude's single on Celluloid "Kwai Systeme / Betty Boop." Robin Scott (M "Pop Music") had produced the SpionS first single and wanted to collaborate further. With Claude, Jean-Marie wrote "Me Me Me", intended for a choir, for M. Then SpionS split and Robin was off to Switzerland to record an album to follow-up his hit single. That left Jean-Marie alone in London, where he began working as Codek, a play on the brand name Kodak The "Me Me Me" single was released by MCA Records in 1980. Back in Paris, now with some studio experience, Celluloid Records hired Jean-Marie to produce records for Artefact and Les Orphelins. Over the next 2 years he began working on ideas for the next Codek single "Closer / "Tam Tam".

Review: Eagles & Butterflies has had plenty of notable tunes over the years. No doubt that is why he gets the nod from Gerd Jansen's legendary Running back label to offer up Retropolis Vol 01. It is a four-track EP that shows off the producer's well-realised sounds. The title track is the real standout - 'Retropolis' brings electro-styled synth work with brilliantly future retro euro-disco energy. It's packed with hints of Italo and is sure to light up any club scene. Says the producer of the EP, "Retropolis is the past meets the future. I love influences and technology from the past and making music that sounds like it could be from a time yet to arrive." Mission accomplished.

Review: Italian producer Heinrich Dressel has made a name for himself in a very focused pursuit of 70s and 80s synth wave soundtracks. Relishing in the horror and keeping one hand on the schlocky funk, he's graced the likes of Cyberdance, Strange Life and Mannequin with his Giallo-rooted sound, and now he's returning to Slow Motion with an exquisite EP of brooding, creepy crawlies that kick down low and keep it chilly up top. Paying tribute to iconic synth chips on 'CEM 8220' and exploring sweeter tones on the cascading 'Arpeggio Jawa', this is Dressel at his best.

Review: The iconic North London dance music duo Idjut Boys are famed for their nostalgia fueled offerings of dub, disco and house and join forces again for this 4 track single featuring 4 completely different takes on the track 'Speedball'. The 'Full Whip' version is an 80s powersynth with powerful kicks and synth perfection, an authentic use of a commodified sound used in the past couple of years. 'Severe Itching' takes the party downstairs into an acid techno rave, the liquid bass seeping through your ear canal into your skull - an utterly extraterrestrial experience. 'Strip Off Dub' is just that: a stripped back dub version of 'Full Whip'. Focusing on the heftier synths and bass, with the rushing wind effects that compromised 'Full Whip'. 'Whizbang Mix' invites you back into the bassment for another slice of acid house pie, the meeting point between 'Full Whip' and 'Severe Itching' that feels like trying to listen to the former after the laters aforementioned liquid has blocked your eardrums. This one's for the messy afterparty.

Review: Belgian label nacht and The Pilotwings (Louis & Guillaume) present a compilation of works created in the STELPLAATS venue in Leuven, early 2022. In November 2021, right before the second Covid lockdown. Guillaume and Louis were invited by the nacht crew in Leuven to play their first dj-set together since the start of the pandemic. At the time, the nacht crew had just received the first physical release on their brand new imprint, and the team was eager to get the record out into the world. For the second release, however, everything was possible. Before the show, somewhere between the obligatory nasal swab and the third drink, the idea of an unusual collaboration sprouted. Leuven Works compiles five tracks that flowed out of the sessions in STELPLAATS and is a testament to the week that Louis and Guillaume had under the STELPLAATS roof. During their stay, the blood brothers got looked after with love by the nacht team, who provided homemade pizzas and a well-stocked fridge full of Duvels, allowing The Pilotwings to truly root into the Leuven soil and enrich the local landscape with their colourful presence.

Review: Robert Rental is an artist as influential as he is overlooked. An anchor of the early British DIY and post-punk scene, his name is most frequently uttered alongside illustrious collaborators such as Thomas Leer and Daniel Miller. Dark Entries and Optimo ally to illuminate some of Rental's early solo works with an expanded reissue of his debut 7" Paralysis /A.C.C.. Both labels have previously excavated Rental's catalog; we reissued the collaborative LP with Glenn Wallis in 2017, and Optimo released a collection of demos in 2018.

Review: Back by popular demand comes this four track revisitation of the famous 80s synthpop classic, which emerged in December 2024 with the kind of slightly Euro twist in the vocal department you might expect from the Netherlands-based Random Vinyl stable. The Master Mix is perhaos the most poignant, given that its airy, lush pads were put together by the late producer Marc Hartman who very sadly passed away in August 2024 at the far too young age of 58. But all four show due reverence to this monolithic moment in electronic music history, without resisting the temptation to add a little new. Grey-t stuff.

Review: Amongst minimal wave and alternative synth-pop enthusiasts, short-lived London band Shoc Corridor has an excellent reputation. Although they released a pair of albums and a gaggle of singles in 1983 and '84, it is '82 debut single A Blind Sign that gets collectors drooling. On this Dark Entries reissue, it's easy to see why. Flipside cut "Sargasso Sea", a fantastically spaced-out combination of heavily dub influenced post-punk bass, minimalist drum machine hits and liquid electronics, is particularly special, while "On Reflection" is a fine slab of swooning, near Balearic electronica. The title track, a Gary Numan-esque chunk of mutant synth-pop that bizarrely includes some jangly acoustic guitars amongst the arpeggio bass and twittering synthesizer melodies, is also inspired.

Review: By Italo-disco standards, where artists often got one-shot at glory, Some Bizarre was relatively successful. The studio duo released three 12" singles, with 1983 debut Don't Be Afraid being most coveted by Italo-disco collectors. Here it gets a timely reissue from Dark Entries. The original vocal version actually still stands up well, sounding a little like a quirky European tribute to early Depeche Mode, with a little Visage thrown in. The drum machine handclap-heavy percussion and Yazzoo-style synth riffs make it more potent than some Italo-disco of the period, and the vocal is much stronger - and less heavily accented - than many Italian records of the period. As usual, it's accompanied by a dub-style Instrumental on the flip.

Review: Sumerian Fleet is a collaborative project from Mr. Pauli and Alden Tyrell, and alongside their couple of excellent albums on Dark Entries these dark side synth wave devotees also delivered a coveted record to Clone's West Coast Series back in 2010. Finally, that record is getting a repress to thwart the sharks and get grimy, gothic electro back in the hands of the real fans. Every track is a masterpiece, but one of our personal favourites is the rubbery nightmare funk of 'Blech Erkrankung', which comes on like Joy Division and Front 242 getting in a fight and falling down the stairs together.

Review: UV & Nenor link up once more and return to Fossils with three new edits that take the form of spaced-out deep cosmic chuggers. These are all classy tunes with an analogue edge, great deference to the classic synth sounds of days gone by but all with nice modern touches. 'Space Love' is a widescreen odyssey with sultry female vocals and a sweet theremin sound. On the flip, 'Shwag' has hazy pads and slowed down, rugged, sleazy drums and bass and then last of all comes 'GoGo Stomp' with another bubbly bottom end, squelchy bassline and weird but wonderful vocal sounds. A brilliantly high-grade addition to your record back.