Back catalogue: Coldwave/Synth

Review: On Strange Disciple, Brooklyn-based cold synth pop trio Nation of Language explore their relationship with a very distinct set of emotions: hopeless devotion, temptation, guilt. Like a religious zealot gone rogue - perhaps an image evoked by the cloaked figure on its front cover - the album seems to sonically bastardise its various new wave, post-punk and shoegaze influences, all while channelling the increased energy that has slowly found its way into the music. It mirrors the band's picking-up-of-the-pace as their fanbase has grown and touring schedule has filled up over the years.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***


There's no better example of a follow-up LP this week than Nation Of Language's 'A Way Forward', which brings up the rear and engulfs 'Introduction', the band's 2020 debut. Put simply, this album is krautrocky, whereas the last one was closer to synthpop. This subtle change came as a result of Ian Devaney, Aidan Noell, and Michael Sue-Poi attempting to "trace the roots of their sound", "hoping to learn something from the early influences of our early influences", from big names like Can through to Laurie Spiegel and Cluster. Recorded through the past year's lockdowns, a long-form mood of relentless melancholy is the result, blending driving drum machines with intense reverb and yearning male vocals - 'The Grey Commute' and 'Former Self' being emotive highlights. Keep an eye for the limited red and blue split vinyl version of this one.

Review: One of many names in the pantheons of Tokyo's electronic music triumphs, despite their acclaim, reverence among boffins, and the sprinkling of high profile UK remixers that helped spread their output further (copies of reworkings by The Black Dog, Autechre and Global Communication fetch a fair song on the resale market) most will never have heard about Nav Katze. Their loss, and one we'd like to put right if possible.

Formed in 1984 as a trio - Naoko Iimura (guitar), Miwako Yamaguchi (vocals and bass), and Shino Furutachi (drums) - the band would put out two well received record on SWITCH before migrating to the far more prominent label Victor Music Industries for 1991's Kanki, at which point three became two with Furutachi stepping down. This package showcases not only why their original material was so sought after, with trance notes, IDM and ambient and pop meeting in beautiful soundscapes - but also what can happen when new parties get involved, with remixes from Aphex Twin, Sun Electric and Disjecta included.

Review: This double LP release of Marcello Michelotti's Italian New Wave live performances of the groups 1980 double single 'Information of Death' and 2008 album 'Oscillator' come 3 years after their last EP. Whilst 'Information of Death' utilises analogue synths and live drum recordings to create its metallic, cold soundscape, 'Oscillator' - a live performance from the 1979 Banana Moon Club - is almost entirely those alien synths, with interspersed vocal passages. These two legendary New Wave projects are bundled together for the first time, the first vinyl press of 'Oscillator' and the first press of 'Information of Death' in 7 years. The abrasive, experimental production on tracks like 'Neon 0832' and 'Neon 1102' are revolutionary to a modern ear. To say Michelotti et al were ahead of their time is an understatement.

Review: The only album Nico gave us that didn't feature John Cale was a visionary piece of work. Not for a moment suggesting the absence of her regular collaborator improved things, but Drama of Exile certainly saw the iconic German musician, singer and songwriter move in some different and very new directions. Enlisting the help of Philippe Quilichini, a Corsican bassist, and introducing a Middle Eastern rhythm section definitely helped, but ultimately you can't help feeling this was an album she was always supposed to make. That voice, once described by the critic Richard Goldstein as sounding like "a cello getting up in the morning", was perfect for what had come before, but as the focal point of experiments in coldwave, synthwave, goth and new wave, it seems to take on new resonance and power. A thing of obscure beauty that deserves every bit of this repressing.

Review: "NINE INCH NAILS' GROUNDBREAKING DEBUT ALBUM
REMASTERED AND RE-RELEASED

Fans can now revisit the conception of Nine Inch Nails. Trent Reznor's Null Corporation has teamed with UMe/The Bicycle Music Company to release Pretty Hate Machine: 2010 Remaster on November 22, 2010. After completing the score for David Fincher's The Social Network, Reznor oversaw the digital remastering of Pretty Hate Machine from the newly unearthed original tapes with engineer Tom Baker (whose NIN credits include The Downward Spiral, Broken, The Fragile, With Teeth and Ghosts). This remastered version includes an eleventh track, a cover of Queen's ''Get Down Make Love,'' originally the B-side to the ''Sin'' single and produced by Al Jourgensen. Rob Sheridan, NIN's longtime art director, has also re-imagined the packaging of Pretty Hate Machine under Reznor's supervision.

As a young musician in Cleveland, Ohio, Reznor took a job at a local recording studio and employed unused studio time to develop his own material. The nascent album was later recorded with his favorite producers including Flood/Mark Ellis (U2, Depeche Mode, PJ Harvey), John Fryer (Cocteau Twins, This Mortal Coil), Adrian Sherwood (Ministry, Cabaret Voltaire) and Keith LeBlanc (Tackhead). The result was the first Nine Inch Nails album, 1989's Pretty Hate Machine. All songs were written, arranged, programmed and performed by Reznor. The album featured the breakthrough singles ''Sin,'' ''Down In It'' and ''Head Like A Hole,'' and ultimately sold over 3 million copies, reaching Triple Platinum sales status. In the wake of the album's initial underground success, NIN soon developed a reputation as one of the best live acts in rock and joined the inaugural Lollapalooza tour in 1991. NIN have since sold more than 18 million albums, collected Grammy® Awards and headlined arenas, amphitheaters and festivals worldwide.

The Bicycle Music Company acquired the rights to Pretty Hate Machine from a division of Prudential Securities in the spring of 2010. It was Bicycle's intention from the onset to enable Reznor to regain some control of this lost piece of NIN's legacy, resulting in this artist approved 2010 reissue of one of music's most groundbreaking and influential albums.

Reznor is currently working on new music as a member of the group How To Destroy Angels, continuing his Nine Inch Nails efforts and composing for future film score projects.

TRACK LISTING:
1. Head Like A Hole
2. Terrible Lie
3. Down In It
4. Sanctified
5. Something I Can Never Have
6. Kinda I Want To
7. Sin
8. That's What I Get
9. The Only Time
10. Ringfinger
11. Get Down Make Love"

Review: Space Oddities (1972 - 1982) are the results of Frenchman Georges Achille Teperino aka Nino Nardini, fellow countryman Roger Roger and German Eddie Warner's collaborations over ten years at Ganaro recording studio. Given some underground recognition in the late nineties by the likes of Barry 7 of Add N to (X) (with his Connectors series) or UK electronica legend Luke Vibert, they can now add Alexis Le-Tan (Les Edits Du Golem) and Jess as devotees, who made the effort of compiling the release. As Born Bad stated quite succinctly, the trio used their "strange instruments to sketch out the beginnings of something that resembled the future of music. This collection presents some of the highlights from their light-hearted, electronic pop sessions."

Review: ***B-STOCK: Creasing to corner of outer sleeve but otherwise in excellent condition***


In anticipation of Nouvelle Phenomene's forthcoming album, Bordello A Parigi concomitantly announce the reissue of their acclaimed debut LP Glory Of Romance, almost ten years after its initial release. An emotively depth-scouring work of contemporary synthwave-via-darkwave, the musical quadrangle of Angela Santa, Fanni Santa, Peter B. and Zsolt Dziba first produced this impressive studio project under the ambit of Russian indie label Other Voices, giving rise to the likes of 'Glory Of Romance' and 'Caresse', both excellent singles venturing into a well-established sound, yet colliding it with a fabulously fresh thematic locus, such as modern-day fatigue and artifice. Truly an ever-new phenomenon, Nouvelle Phenomene's style - that of gothic-sonic art nouveau - is a newness that nevertheless does not forfeit timelessness.