Minimal Synth

PRE-ORDER HERE: http://www.darkentriesrecords.com/store/dark-entries/patrick-cowley-school-daze-2xlp/

"Nightcrawler" is taken from "School Daze", a retrospective double LP of disco pioneer Patrick Cowley.

This very special LP features a compilation of restored Cowley productions unearthed in the garage of vintage gay porn company Fox Studio. Spanning nearly 90 minutes, the 11 tracks (originally recorded between 1973 and 1981), epitomize Cowley's forward thinking and his affinity for mixing elements of varying styles of music. 
 
Simply put, Cowley was a musical trailblazer ahead of his time. His approach to making music was an experiment of sound and with his since exploration he forged a new electronic sound and style, cementing his position as a key player in the creation of hi-NRG dance music and the San Francisco Sound. 

His credits as a producer include Sylvester's "Do You Wanna Funk", Paul Parker's "Right on Target" and collaborations with Jorge Socarras of Indoor Life - this is just the tip of the iceberg. 

An early victim of AIDS, Cowley passed away at the age of 32; these recordings shine a new light on the experimental side of a disco legend who was taken too soon from us. 

School Daze will be released on what would be his 63rd birthday, October 19th. All proceeds from the release will go to the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.

Perhaps one of the most revolutionary and influential people in the cannon of disco music, Cowley created his own brand of Hi-NRG dance music coined "The San Francisco Sound." Born in Buffalo, NY on October 19, 1950, Patrick moved to San Francisco at the age of 21. He studied at the City College of San Francisco where he founded the Electronic Music Lab. During this time Patrick createe radio jingles and electronic pieces using the school's equipment, first a Putney, then an E-MU System and finally a Serge synthesizer. He made experimental instrumental songs by blending various types of music and adapting them to the synthesizer.

By the mid-70's, Patrick's synthesizer skills landed him a job composing and producing songs for disco superstar Sylvester such as “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)”, “Dance Disco Heat” and "Stars." This helped Patrick obtain more work as a remixer and producer. Of particular note was his 18-minute long remix of Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love” and production work with edgy New Wave band Indoor Life. By 1981 Patrick released a string of dance 12" singles, like “Menergy” and “Megatron Man”, creating the soundtrack for a generation. Also that year, he founded Megatone Records and released his debut album. Around this time Patrick was hospitalized and diagnosed with a then-unknown illness: that would later be called AIDS. Prior to his passing on November 12, 1982, he recorded two more Hi-NRG hits, “Do You Wanna Funk” for Sylvester and "Right On Target" for Paul Parker.

In 1981 Patrick was contacted by John Coletti, the owner of famed gay porn company Fox Studio in Los Angeles. John had heard about Patrick's music from the legendary Sylvester and proposed he write music for his films. Patrick jumped on this offer and sent reels of his college compositions from the 70s to John in LA. Coletti then used a variable speed oscillator to adjust the pitch and speed of Patrick's songs in-sync with the film scene. "School Daze" is a collection of Cowley's instrumental songs recorded between 1973 and 1981 found in the Fox Studio vaults. Influenced by Tomita, Wendy Carlos and Giorgio Moroder, Patrick forged an electronic sound from his collection of synthesizers, modified guitars and self-constructed equipment. The listener enters a world of dark forbidden vices, introspective and reflective of Patrick's time spent in the bathhouses of San Francisco. The songs on "School Daze" range from sparse proto- techno to high octane funk to somber post-punk to musique concrete, revealing the depth of Cowley's unique talent.

Featuring over 80 minutes of music, this compilation contains soundtrack music from two Fox Studio films, "Muscle Up" and "School Daze", never before released on vinyl. The tapes were restored and transferred using the same speed and pitch settings, then remastered for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, CA. The vinyl comes housed in a glossy dual pocket gatefold featuring classic gay porn imagery from the Fox Studio vaults plus an essay from Indoor Life vocalist, Jorge Soccarras. For Patrick's 63rd birthday, Dark Entries and Honey Soundsystem present a glimpse into the instrumental world of a young genius. These recordings shine a new light on the experimental side of a disco legend who was taken too soon. All proceeds from "School Daze" will be donated to Project Open Hand and the AIDS Housing Alliance.

Patrick Cowley - Nightcrawler

MR-007 Guyer’s Connection
Guyer’s Connection were a Swiss duo that started making electronic music in 1982.  Tibor Csebits and Philippe Alioth were merely 14 and 15 years old and were armed with simply 2 synths, a drum machine, and a 4-track tape recorder.  They are best known for their highly-sought after self-produced and released album “Portrait” in 1983.  It is now considered a classic minimal synth pop masterpiece.  Several other members joined the band in 1984 and worked together for some time.  Philippe Alioth has been very active in the music business writing, producing, and running a Swiss studio as well as running a Swiss label (Sonic Content).  This extraordinary collection of tracks was discovered in a dark recess of Philippe’s achives of 4-track tapes in his studio.  The tapes were recorded from 1982 to 1984 but were rediscovered in 2005.  A portion of the songs were restored/remixed/remastered.  The German record label Kernkrach released the tracks in 2005 in a limited viny-only pressing of 330 copies.  This sought-after release has long been out of print.  Medical Records in collaboration with Philippe Alioth is proud to present another presentation of these glorious tracks.  Featuring 13 tracks (including several never before released and a few reworked versions of tracks released in 2005), this will appeal to all lovers of minimal synth, electro-pop, flexi-pop, and the like.  Standout tracks include the vocoder tinged “Discoqueen II”, the hyper-catchy “Ar Isch Schon”, and a slightly modified version of “He Sabine!”.  New tracks include an interpretation of a German children’s song and “Macky Messer” featuring words by Kurt Weill.  The LP features newly created front and back artwork.  Presented on 180gm green vinyl in a limited edition of 600 hand-numbered copies. Released: July, 2011 - LP Sold Out, Digital Available.

Guyer’s Connection - He Sabine! (MR-007)

Lowfish Reel Electronics Volume 14 - October 17, 2013

Intro is a mangled Coil sample...

1. "Xylitolic" (Grapht Fatal Flowers Remix) - Zyxt
2. "When all is said and done" - Ancient Methods
3. " Moddax" - Perc & Modern Heads
4. "Least Inkling" - Front 242
5. "Babaks House" - Cloudface
6. "Dust" - Alex Smoke
7. "Elephant Generators" - Solvent
8. "Sleep Games" - Pye Corner Audio
9. "Prisms" - Clockwork
10. "Daylight for 15 seconds" - Manasyt
11. "Blackpool Late Eighties" - Holden


Lowfish Reel Electronics Vol. 14

Before I did stuff under the name Lowfish I recorded as Pest(e). "Wrinkle" is from the 1995 cassette release "Test(e)" by Pest(e). I thought I was pretty clever with all the brackets…I did the art to this as well - I was just starting in graphic design then...

This track and a few other Pest(e) tracks were re-released on Suction Records (which we started in 1997, the year after this cassette was produced).

Wrinkle - by Pest(e) - 1995

ARTIST: Skanfrom
TITLE: Postcards
LABEL/CAT#: Suction Records / suction027
RELEASE DATE: October 7, 2014
FORMAT: Vinyl/CD/digital

Suction Records is proud to present "Postcards," a new full-length by Skanfrom - his first album since 2002… Skanfrom is Roger Semsroth from Berlin, best known for his  purist minimal techno project Sleeparchive.

Before Sleeparchive, there was Skanfrom… Skanfrom first appeared in the late-90s, releasing limited edition 7"s on his own A.D.S.R. label, part of a small movement of DIY labels influenced by the melodic, experimental electronica output of labels like Rephlex, Skam, and Warp. Skanfrom's music displayed a particular affinity for the lush, melodic electro of Bochum Welt, an early signing to Aphex Twin's Rephlex label; you could practically call Bochum Welt the blueprint for Skanfrom's sound. But there was something a little different about Skanfrom…

Unlike Bochum Welt, who claimed influence from big shiny '80s producers like Trevor Horn and Thomas Dolby, Skanfrom was also listening to a lot of raw synthwave music - the influence of early Depeche Mode (Speak and Spell), Kraftwerk (Radioactivity), and obscure bands like Vice Versa and Ceramic Hello, clearly set Skanfrom apart from his IDM contemporaries.

Skanfrom found a likeminded home in Suction Records, who were releasing records by Solvent and Lowfish with many of the same musical references. In 2002, Skanfrom released his debut album on Suction Records, "Hand Picked Fragments." A lot has changed since 2002, but in Skanfrom world, 2014 is very much the same. "Postcards" is full of the same pure and melodic electro(pop) that made Skanfrom so special to us from the start. As it was in the beginning, Skanfrom produced "Postcards" using little more than his beloved Roland SH-101; this classic vintage monosynth, with it's minimal layout and pure analogue tone, remains the ideal instrument for Skanfrom's enduring, synthetic sound.

"Perseids Over Greenwich" by Skanfrom

Jason 'Solvent' Amm has been active since the late 90s, creating numerous indefinable mutations of dance, rich with the pulsing warmth and chaos of analogue circuitry. Recent years have seen Amm serving as producer, co-writer and interviewer for the independent documentary epic I Dream Of Wires exploring the history, demise and resurgence of the ultimate electronic music machine, the Modular Synthesizer. All the while Solvent has pursued the industrial, acidic sounds that have always lain dormant in his work, and this mix for R$N offers an emotional gut punch, with slow, stately machine music giving way to chunks of bristling techno and bursts of quivering, tentatively euphoric melody. We caught up with Amm to discuss just how a producer who doesn't "put a lot of stock into recording mixes" goes about making a mixtape...
Full interview here: http://www.theransomnote.co.uk/music/mixes/solvent-the-ransom-note-mixtape/

Alessandro Cortini - Stella 
Lowfish - Knives 
Alain Kepler - Radio Wave Tracker 
Clouds - Blood Skating 
Varg - Norrlandsbrigad 69R 
Cylob - Durftal 
Strider.B. - [Bradley's Robot A1] 
Gescom - Viral Rival (Rmxd By Ae) 
[UNKNOWN ARTIST] - [Papers001-B1] 
Cloudface - On None 
Blacknecks - Don't Dream It Be It 


Read Full Interview

Solvent - The Ransom Note Mixtape

Taken from 'New Ways: Music From The Documentary I Dream Of Wires' by Solvent, out August 14, 2015.

Purchase at The Ghostly Store: http://www.theghostlystore.com/collections/music-downloads/products/solvent-new-ways

Solvent - King Vincent (Wrangler Remix)

Digital Poodle "Work Terminal (Solvent revision)"
from "Revision! vol.1 - Work Terminal"
Suction Records / suction036
12"/digital - Nov 2015

Digital Poodle - Work Terminal (Solvent revision)

"Tunnel" -- from "EP 1"
BUY: rx-101.bandcamp.com/album/ep-1

Suction Records presents the first in a series of archival releases by RX-101 - previously unreleased material, originally recorded to cassette circa 1997-1999. Pure and authentic Aphex Twin-style techno/IDM/electronics.

“EP 1” (suction032)
12” vinyl EP - October 17, 2016

RX-101 - "Tunnel"

SOLVENT WISH BASSABYSS MIX

self-titledmag.com/2017/12/13/ne235-solvent-mix-idm-braindance/

NE235: Solvent

Du ser saker som inte finns

Kremlyn - Rutinas

From Solvent's original OST: 
"New Ways: music from the documentary I Dream Of Wires"

Order DIGITAL (via Ghostly International):
http://www.theghostlystore.com/products/solvent-new-ways

Order PHYSICAL (via Suction Records):
2CD: http://www.science-with-synthesizers.com/products/solvent-new-ways-2cd-deluxe
VINYL: http://www.science-with-synthesizers.com/products/solvent-new-ways-vinyl

Official video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xWZb2QOhZk

This is track#1, "Themogene (I Dream Of Wires theme)". Every sound on this record was created from scratch using a variety of modular synthesizer systems.

Themogene (I Dream Of Wires theme)

http://www.discogs.com/Intolerance-Intolerance/release/4289830

INTOLERANCE s/t LP
Synthetic Shadows 2013
SS04

Originally released in 1985 on nearly-impossibile to find demo-tape. Now finally available on vinyl thanks to Synthetic Shadows label.


Gli Intolerance nascono nel settembre 1983, da un´idea di Luca Musso (Cuneo), Marco Marongiu (Busca) e Paolo Chiotasso (Torino), musicisti orbitanti intorno ai vari conservatori del Piemonte (Cuneo e Torino), alla Facoltà di Architettura di Torino e, soprattutto, allo SMET (Studio di Musica Elettronica di Torino) fondato da Enore Zaffiri nel 1964. Obiettivo (e scommessa) fu quello di partecipare al primo concerto per suoni emergenti della provincia di Cuneo (a Sant´Albano Stura) dove, tra partecipanti e pubblico, saranni presenti alcuni tra i futuri protagonisti della futura scena cuneese e nazionale (Cristiano Godano per esempio). Questo primo concerto fu eseguito integralmente in playback, data l´impossibilità di eseguire LIVE i 2 pezzi presentati, per il gran numero di sovraincisioni e mixaggi su Revox A77 e la mancanza vera e propria di sintetizzatori polifonici (in quel momento avevamo a disposizione unicamente un piano elettrico Rhodes, la drumatix 606, un ARP Odissey monofonico e una Stratocaster). Dopo un discreto successo e curiosità suscitati da questa apparizione live, si trattò di decidere se dare seguito al progetto e dare vita ad un gruppo vero e proprio. Quindi scegliere una nuova strumentazione, trovare una voce solista etc....per dare una precisa connotazione alla musica e al gruppo. Punti di riferimento culturali/musicali sono stati i Suicide, i Daf, i Throbbing Gristle, i Joy Division, la nuova scena internazionale postunk/new wave, la scena musicale elettronica tedesca degli anni 60/70 e, in generale, tutto il panorama contemporaneo d´avanguardia del ´900, non solo musicale, ma architettonico ed artistico nel suo complesso. Si decide di mantenere la formazione a 3 elementi, formazione totalmente elettronica (nessun basso, chitarra o batteria) e di scegliere Raffaella Risso come nuova voce solista e front man (?) del gruppo. Da subito si è dimostrato impossibile avere come membro stabile Paolo, dato i suoi interessi artistici/musicali legati ad altri settori ed espressioni. La strumentazione usata nei 2 primi anni (che è quella usata nell´audiocassetta della SPN) è la seguente: Roland JX-3P, Roland Juno-106, Roland Sh-101 e l´immancabile Drumatrix TR-606. Fra la fine dell´83 e la fine dell´84 vengono composti alcuni tra i pricipali pezzi della produzione degli Intolerance, che rimarranno sempre presenti nei live del gruppo. In questo periodo si inizia a dare interviste a radio locali, suonare dal vivo (pochi concerti in zona; ad Ottobre 1984 addirittura a Pisa, nello storico Victor Charlie, in un´inedita formazione a 2 per l´occasione, il sottoscritto e la cantante). Avvengono in questo periodo 2 incontri fondamentali per gli Intolerance: con Ivan Rosso e Leonardo Borghese. Ivan sarà per i prossimi anni, pur non musicista, un membro di fatto della formazione. Grande amico e assoluto primo fan degli Intolerance, si è occupato, oltre che dei live set durante i concerti e delle foto, di procurarci contatti con le radio, gli organizzatori di concerti a con le riviste. Mi ricordo ancora adesso il viaggio fino a Cairo Montenotte, presso la redazione di Rockerilla (probabilmente 84) per consegnare il demo della nostra musica a Mario Rivera, che ci frutterà la prima recensione del gruppo. E la prima intervista a Radio Fossano, di cui Cristiano Godano era uno dei Dj. Leonardo Borghese è stato il "padre", il “deus ex machina”, il principale animatore della cosiddetta "scena cuneese". Iniziando a lavorare nelle radio locali, ha iniziato a far conoscere a Cuneo e provincia le nuove realtà musicali italiane e internazionali. In seguito, con la suo etichetta indipendente “Suoni dal Profondo Nord”, ha prodotto i primi lavori di tutti i principali gruppi della zona, e ha creato di fatto il background ottimale per far conoscere questi gruppi in Italia. Infaticabile promoter ed organizzatore, insieme ad Alberto Castoldi, dei 2 principali concerti/eventi musicali di quegli anni a Cuneo: Movimenti 86 e Movimenti 87, il primo con i migliori gruppi della scena locale, il secondo, vero e proprio festival, con i corrispettivi nazionali allora più blasonati: CCCP, Litfiba, Not Moving etc...
Intanto, parallelamente agli Intolerance, siamo impegnati anche con lo SMET, con concerti, partecipazioni a concorsi e seminari (in particolare il seminario, della durata di una settimana, che si tiene tenuto a Villa Amoretti (Parco Rignon. Torino) nell´autunno dell´84. Questo primo periodo degli Intolerance trova compimento nell´85 con il primo concerto al Macabre (storico locale di Bra, dove negli anni hanno suonato i Marlene Kuntz, Vinicio Capossela, i Denovo, White Zombies, Nico, Diaframma etc...), la registratione e l´uscita dell´audiocassetta prodotta dalla SPN e la fuoriuscita di Antonella dal gruppo (estate 85). Il materiale è stato registrato a Saluzzo da Lorenzo Balangero, chitarrista dei Dottor Sax, su un otto piste nello scantinato di casa. La registrazione è avvenuta nell'inverno dell´85, ed ha permesso di fissare su nastro queste sonorità fredde, minimali e più sperimentali, tipiche del periodo. Non sono presenti remissaggi, arrangiamenti diversi o particolari sovraincisioni, per cercare di essere più fedeli possibile all´idea di partenza. Con l´uscita di Antonella dalla formazione (per ragioni che mi sono sfuggite allora e che contituano a sfuggirmi ancora adesso, a distanza di 30 anni) si chiude il periodo sperimentale e creativo del gruppo, precocemente ed in maniera inaspettata. Il periodo che segue sarà quello di maggior "visibilità" e, forse, "successo" degli Intolerance, quello del vinile per VM Cinque per intenderci, ma si tratterà quasi sempre di nuovi arrangiamenti del materiale dell´ 83/85, senza particolari novità. Di seguito, velocemente, i dati relativi ai successivi 2 anni di attività del gruppo. IIª metà dell´85: la nuova formazione include Andrea Borsalino (basso e seconda voce, ex Diplay) e Peter Soro (chitarra). Registrazione di Noradreanalin per la compilation "A Place To Survive" della SPN. Concerti.
1986: concerti al Macabre di Bra, a Erba e a Torino. Intervista per VM di Milano. In Marzo entriamo in studio di registrazione (Emanuele Ruffinego, REM Studio) a Bra per il master dei 4 pezzi che saranno pubblicati da VM di Milano. Aprile: uscita di VM Cinque (Box Set, 2 Lp, Ltd 600 copie) dove sono pubblicati i 4 pezzi precedentemente registrati. Partecipazione a Movimenti ´86 a Cuneo (altra iniziativa di Leonardo Borghese, concerto con i migliori gruppi piemontesi). (Importante) Incontro con Fabrizio della Porta di Radio Torino Popolare, di cui saremo spesso ospiti nella sua trasmissione il lunedì sera.
1987: Di fatto anno di chiusura dell´attività degli Intolerance. Qualche concerto ed intervista radiofonica. Sei pezzi vengono pubblicati sull´audio cassetta allegata alla fanzine Amen - THX 1138 di Milano (Amen This is Religgion N° 6, 2000 copie). Partecipazione a Movimenti ´87 (11, 12 e 13 settembre, Parco della Gioventù di Cuneo), con la presenza di "tutto" il rock indipendente italiano (CCCP, Litfiba, Denovo, Not Moving etc...)
Per l´occasione gli Intolerance presentano una nuova line-up, nuovamente un trio, con un terzo tastierista, X Giraudo, ex Display.
Luca Musso viene a mancare il 4 giugno 1992 e la partita si chiude definitivamente. 

Marco Marongiu

INTOLERANCE - Noradrenaline [1985 ITALY MINIMAL-SYNTH]

http://solventcity.com

http://facebook.com/solvent

http://discogs.com/artist/Solvent

For over a decade, Jason Amm’s work as Solvent has neatly defied categorization. His music is too sweetly melodic for techno or acid, his compositions too fiendishly detailed for synth-pop. He was too steeped in the sounds of the ‘80s to participate in the incipient IDM scene; he was briefly lumped in with the short-lived electroclash movement, only to outlive it; he’s played “minimal wave” parties and goth clubs, indie-rock shows and techno all-nighters. But even as words fail in the face of Solvent’s music, its pleasures are anything but elusive.

Today, Zimbabwe-born Jason Amm lives in Toronto, ON, where he spends his time obsessively grappling with an outsized collection of vintage analog synthesizers, samplers, and sequencers. Solvent first materialized in 1997 with a string of singles and full-lengths (1998’s Solvent, 1999’s Solvently One Listens) on Amm’s own Suction Records, the Toronto-based label he founded with Lowfish’s Gregory DeRocher. The watershed release Solvent City (2001) on Berlin-based Morr Music introduced Amm’s sound to a wider audience, and Apples &amp; Synthesizers (2004) marked Solvent’s move to Ghostly International. Along with notable remixes of artists including Soft Cell, Alter Ego, and Adult., Solvent tracks have appeared on high-profile DJ mixes and seminal compilations.

Solvent’s most recent record on Ghostly International, 2010?s Subject to Shift, marks a turn for the darker as Amm embraces his love of the abrasive sounds of acid and industrial. And while a sinister tone or two now dances among Solvent’s sparkling hooks and bright streaks of synthesizer, and while Amm’s music drifts even further from accepted genre-specific reference points, Solvent’s sound has only deepened. After more than ten years of composing love songs for robots, Amm sounds like nothing more than himself.



Le Cliché · Limerick (Ireland) Barcelona (Catalunya)

Themogene (I Dream Of Wires theme)

solvent

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