Interlude - Land of the dead


Ecstatic offer a fascinating, often dizzying insight to the primitive industrial minimalism of Italian siblings, Giancarlo and Roberto Drago, a.k.a. The Tapes, via Selected Works 1982 - 1992 sourced from original tapes and pressed to vinyl for the first time ever. 

Following on from Ecstatic’s issue of “mail artist” Danielle Ciullini’s Domestic Exile Collected Works 82-86, this set surveys a blind-spot in most people’s knowledge of early ‘80s Italian underground music, framed against a backdrop of the Anni di Piombo, or Years of Lead - a period of domestic political turmoil between the late ‘60s and early ’80s - and the mushroom shadow of nuclear war. 

Like their international tape-scene allies, The Tapes reacted to this world thru a matrix of mono- synths, drum machines, microphones and 4-track recorders, mostly recording/experimenting ideas direct-to-tape in one take and making a virtue of their lo-fi set-up’s infidelities and imperfections - randomness and mistakes were embraced rather than discarded - whilst absorbing the counter-cultural influence of William Burroughs or Throbbing Gristle, and the sci-fi dystopia of J.G. Ballard and John Foxx. 

These 21 tracks, drawn from 10 different, limited tape releases, perfectly distill a wandering, weirdo spirit, ranging from the funereal swagger of Tanz Fabrik and the darkwave hip-thrust of The Day of Silence to freeform, motorik trajectories such as Time Out of Joint and singular enigmas like the Actress-esque bobble of The Wait and Falso Movimento B2’s weightless, hyaline spindles. 

Collected and compiled by Alessio Natalizia (aka Not Waving) and remastered by Matt Colton, Selected Works 1982 - 1992 represents a decade of modest but searching and instinctively grooving experimentation of the rarest, precious and compelling kind. 

As Giancarlo Drago explains: 
“The Tapes was an unplanned experience, an unplanned need to express myself Looking back 
on this music I wonder sometimes how I did it - the whole process from the concept to the completion. Everything I do now seems trivial and obvious and I just end up aborting the idea. And exactly for this reason I think that everything has its time, with a beginning and an end...”

ELP017
The Tapes 
Selected Works 1982 -1992
Ecstatic Recordings
2LP / Download

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The Tapes - Tanz Fabrik [ELP017]

Vinyl: bordelloaparigi.com/shop/musica/altieri-edo-12/
www.juno.co.uk/products/altieri-edo/605723-01/
Digital: slowmotionrec.bandcamp.com/album/edo
More Info: www.slowmotionmusic.it

Italy via Shanghai is the route taken for the debut E.P of Neapolitan producer Altieri, aka Eugenio Altieri. A designer living in Shanghai, Eugenio started to make music back in 2004, mixing music and visuals to create his “weirdo production” sessions. After traveling east he founded the DesToys duo, a live project that channelled space disco and 80s commercial music.

Edo is a personal view over the modern Asia, Japan in this case. Inspired by the street sounds and bugged out day to day world of Tokyo his debut EP is four tracks of slippery head music. Chiseled from the deep seams of an intergalactic mine and informed by the dark heart of house and no wave disco this is club music from the oily underbelly.

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Altieri - Onibaku

Zipperface Not Waving Remix is Out Now: https://thepopgroup.lnk.to/ZipperfaceNotWavingRefix

The original 'Zipperface' single is available on the new album Honeymoon On Mars. Out Now: https://ThePopGroup.lnk.to/HoneymoonOnMars

"It was an honour to be able to work on the music of a band that meant so much in my life" Not Waving

One of the more prominent personalities to emerge on Powell’s Diagonal Records, Alessio Natalizia aka Not Waving has produced a relentless acid refix of The Pop Group’s first single 'Zipperface' from their new album 'Honeymoon On Mars'

Hailing from Italy but now based in London, Natalizia has been operating under the Not Waving guise since 2013, clocking up an impressive series of self-released cassettes and LPs on his own Ecstatic Recordings imprint. As well as applying himself to a continuing evolution in his own music, Natalizia has also displayed a specialist interest in obscurities from the 80s underground. This interest culminated in the 2013 release of 'Mutazione: Italian Electronic & New Wave Underground 1980-1988', an acclaimed compilation of proto-industrial and primitive electronic music that completely reset the consensus on Italian music in the 1980s. Whilst maintaining a strong release schedule on Ecstatic (Pye Corner Audio, Gavin Russom, The Tapes, Daniele Ciullini and more) this year Natalizia perfected Not Waving’s calling card with 'Animals', an LP that alternated between and often combined liminal ambience, industrial amplitude and incisive, malfunctioning body music. 

On the back of touring America with the Diagonal Records crew Not Waving completes a trilogy of Pop Group remixes after contributions from Hanz and Goth-Trad. Like Hanz and Goth-Trad it comes from a place of enduring respect for The Pop Group’s daring experimentalism. Yet unlike the efforts of Hanz and G-T, Zipperface isn’t led into shadowy echo chambers or sub-bass assault but carved up and weaponised into a barrage of convulsive computer glitch, muscular EBM and thuggish acid. 

The single is taken from the 10 track album produced by dub titan Dennis Bovell, who worked on their seminal debut album 'Y', and Hank Shocklee, producer of Public Enemy’s iconic first three albums as a member of the Bomb Squad. 'Honeymoon On Mars' was released through Freaks R Us on Friday October 28th 2016.

Zipperface (Not Waving Remix)

Not Waving - Populist EP [E026]

• Not Waving recoils back to his Ecstatic label after an ace LP + 12”s for Diagonal 
• Four tracks flirting with sleazy New Beat, nEuro EBM, Acid n0!se and deep-raved Italo
• Edition of 500 copies, initial 200 pressed up on coloured vinyl. Housed in fluoro green/hot red jacket
• Mastered and cut by Matt Colton @ Alchemy

Not Waving takes 2017 by the scruff with his Populist EP, consolidating the myriad stripes of his acclaimed Animals album in four peaktime hammers forged for darkrooms, basements and warehouses alike. 

If last year’s LP saw you thru from day-into-night, or vice-versa, this one is aimed squarely at the gurny hours of abandon in between, with ferocious acid lines and jabbing drums stripped down and strapped up to prompt reckless behaviour on the ‘floor.

Containing his first material written in the wake of Animals, the Populist EP is Alessio Natalizia a.k.a. Not Waving’s strongest dancefloor statement since the 1-sided Get Serious (2015) bullet. It finds him taking the opportunity to make straight-up bangers, rather than ‘songs’, which were thoroughly tried and tested over successive tours of the USA and countless shows in Europe too in the last 9 months.

Too Many Freaks is an anthem in waiting, harnessing a barely-hinged sense of chaos between its careening synth lead, acid squabble and velvet-clad kicks, before the dry-rutting jag and plaintive vox of Vibe Killer takes a dog-grip like This Heat meeting Tuning Circuits.

Top marks go to the check-your-stylus intro for Control Myself on the B-side, which holds its fizzy line into a fetid crevice of what sounds Russell Haswell ramping with Powell, whereas the crooked clampjaw groove of Ur Lucky Ur Still Alive pivots around a sample of a lone raver at Atonal, Berlin “who had no idea how she got there and what she did the night before”. A ruddy good night all-round, then?

Alessio Natalizia a.k.a. Not Waving co-owns the Ecstatic label alongside Sam Willis. Not Waving is widely regarded a connoisseur of Italian new wave and post-punk music - he compiled the Mutazione (Italian Electronic & New Wave Underground 1980-1988) set for Strut - and has issued a series of acclaimed, sought-after, playfully anachronistic twists on that sound since 2013.

Populist

NOT WAVING - TOO MANY FREAKS [E026]

Final episode in Decades, our retrospective series focusing on the work of Tolouse Low Trax.

OUT NOW

TOLOUSE LOW TRAX - METAL TENT WICKED

The cold water rushed against the side of the boat as the storm began to worsen. The night had grown dark several hours ago and now all they were left with was the harrowing whistle of the loud, hollow wind which shook the wooden frame. They had known the journey would be difficult but few had expected the waters to rage with such malice. Now, as the waves rose higher and higher all around them they began to think of home, not that of which they had left but of a made up place far away. Somewhere in which life was peaceful, still and they didn't have to flee. 

Carisma released "Qué es Wave?" back in July earlier this year. Now Dengue Dancing Records have returned with a remix package featuring reimagined versions from Mr. TC and Tom Tom Clubber. Listen to the Mr. TC version of "Qué es Wave?"

Que es Wave? Remixes

PREMIERE: Carisma - Que es Wave? (Mr. TC Remix) [Dengue Dancing Records]

🎁 FREE DOWNLOAD 🎁

Fist Pumping (Stockholm Syndrome Au - Machine Cut)
Hit Me #33

Stockholm Syndrome are a DJ/producer duo based in Melbourne made up of Scottish born Iain Mac (aka Pyz) and Australian Brett Wilson (aka Wil-tron).  The unlikely duo, recognising their similar tastes came together to form Stockholm Syndrome in late 2013 after DJing at the same party.

Hailing from Edinburgh, Pyz has been DJing and promoting for over a decade.  With residencies at Split, Access and We… Electric he’s supported DJ Hell, The Hacker, Ivan Smagghe, Popof, Surgeon, Agoria, Luke Slater, Derek May and Kevin Saunderson to name a few.  After moving to Melbourne he formed Stray in 2012 and has been heavily involved in Yaldi Boomtime as resident and co-promoter.

Wil-tron discovered electronic music after dropping out of a Fine Art degree and a friend introduced him to artists such as Dopplereffekt, Aux 88 and Anthony Rother. He started producing his own tracks and made his debut performing live at Melbourne institution Meccanoid.  Since then he went on to perform at various clubs such as Boney (then Pony), The Mercat and the infamous Honky Tonks supporting the likes of Legowelt, Bangkok Impact, DJ TLR and Modeselektor.

Stockholm Syndrome’s style varies widely and unapologetically, it can’t be neatly wrapped up into a single genre.  They’re drawn to dark, moody, sub 120bpm techno, the energetic, raw and powerful Mex-tech, the Slo-Mo and the Balearic, Drug Chug and the strange.  Since their debut at Section 8 in Melbourne, they’ve gone on to clock up an impressive gig list DJing at many of the city’s iconic venues including Revolver Upstairs, New Guernica, The Liberty Social, Boney and The Mercat.

2015 saw the boys play an inspired closing set at the inaugural Piknic Electronik Melbourne, a twisted, genre-bending set at Unfold/001 and their first two original productions have been well received by other artists such as Gemini Brothers, id!r and Death by Repetition.

2016 started off with a bang when they opened the Sunset Stage at Rainbow Serpent Festival, widely regarded as one of the best music, art and lifestyle festivals in the world.  This was quickly followed-up with a return to Piknic Electronik Melbourne where they performed to a sell-out crowd warming up for The Hacker.  They also rounded out a big year with an appearance at Strawberry Fields Festival along with the support for Carl Craig on New Year’s Eve.

Stockholm Syndrome continue to keep themselves busy gigging around Melbourne, curating the monthly ‘Hostage Radio’ podcast and interview series, putting on their own ‘Cognitive Dissidence’ parties and co-running the recently launched ‘Tilt Shift’ events.  On top of this the pair have been focusing more on producing and remixing with their debut EP ‘Drowning Zombies’ released on Nein Records (UK) in November 2016 a remix of Dan Solo + Le Blanc Casanova also on Nein released in May 2017 followed by another for Tronik Youth released on Roam Recordings (USA) in June.  2018 already promises to be a big year, returning to Piknic Electronik and a number of original productions and remixes already signed and scheduled for release early in the year. 

https://soundcloud.com/the-stockholm-syndrome

Hit Me #33 (MANGE_MOI)

Hit Me ➳ Stockholm Syndrome

All proceeds from the sale of these recordings will be donated to Humanity Crew (www.humanitycrew.org), an international aid organization with a focus on Greece and the Mediterranean, specializing in the provision of first response mental health interventions and psychological aid to refugees and people in crises.

Produced & arranged by Anatolian Weapons. Mastered by Dietrich Schoenemann. Artwork by Alexander Hobson. LURID11. Lurid Music 2018. Still here.

These compositions include samples from "Zanka" by Tom Mkhize, out on Nyami Nyami Records (https://nyaminyamirecords.bandcamp.com/), and "Rahime" from the album "Büyü" by Fide Köksal, out on Minos-EMI, available on all digital download & streaming platforms. Thank you for supporting this worthy cause.

Download on Bandcamp

Anatolian Weapons - Sunbeam Dance

after L'Amour - Peroxydé (JEZEKAËL REFIX)  FREE DOWNLOAD

Athens based composer Akis Daoutis (Akis) gets remix treatment from the raw steel-wielding rhythm machine Tolouse Low Trax, it doesn't get better than this!

https://soundcloud.com/intothelightrecords
https://soundcloud.com/detlefnet

Out very soon!

Buy here!

PRÉMIÈRE: Akis - Into The Light (Tolouse Low Trax Remix) [Into The Light]

Samo Records - Various Artists - SAM004

1. Tassilo Vanhœfen - Hope Isolation Pray
2. Fringe Society - Greg Dulli Yoga
3. Neud Photo - Eraser
4. Balam - Macondó
5. Skelesys - Persuasion
6. Mijo - Don Cono
7. Alpha & Necromante - Red Tape
8. Macaulay - Apathy
9. Uninc & Kolomensky - Zima
10. Pixelife -Persistence Of Vision
11. Spivak - Solar Sail

Release dates:
Digital Oct 18

Megamix by Facets
Artwork by Nikola Sladakovic

Various Artists - SAM004 - Snippets / Megamix

Following his Christmas remixes collection, which already embodied that signature Slow Motion sound. Daniel Monaco is back on the Italian Dance label with first album entitled “Summer Twilight” to set things even more in motion. Monaco presents 7 tracks that are perfect for every context, with hypnotic tropical cosmic and dark italo driven basslines, this release is a surprising package of wonders.

Zipperface (Not Waving Remix)

The Pop Group

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