Cherokee (Cat Power Cover) by l.y.monster

a nervous tic motion of the head to the left

A Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left (Andrew Bird cover)

Minimal Wave is proud to present an LP of 6 songs by cult U.K. project Scenes de la Bohème, entitled ‘Standing in the Rain’. Scenes de la Bohème was formed by Anthony Waites in London, in 1981 with an innate desire to create poetic, subversive pop music. Without any intention of ever signing to a record label, he self-released one untitled 7” single in 1982, an edition of 150 copies, with money funded to him by his parents for his 21st birthday. He often used borrowed synthesizers to record his music in various bedroom studios and friends’ houses supplemented by his beloved cherry red Hagstrom guitar. The two songs that he released were ‘Zara’, an earworm of a pop song about a longed for girl standing in the rain, and ‘The Tale of The Butterfly’. Unlike many other bands of the time, he never sent the single or his demos to John Peel, The NME, Beggars Banquet, nor Rough Trade and so it was lost to obscurity until a few record collectors ‘discovered’ it some 15 years ago. Scenes de la Bohème’s Untitled 7” single continues to fetch exorbitant prices in collectors’ circles so we are especially happy to be able to make this release available in the form of a newly mastered mini LP, which includes four unreleased tracks that Waites had recorded at the time. The LP is pressed on 180 gram vinyl, as a limited edition of 600 (300 black and 300 transparent yellow), and features beautifully restored images of Waites and his main partner in crime, Seamus Fitzsimmons. The inner sleeve holds Waites’ story, his musical inspirations and explorations as an Irish youth growing up in London in the early 1980s and discovering the avant-garde. Release date is April 23rd. Digital release to follow.

Standing In The Rain

Scenes de la Bohème - Zara (Standing in the Rain)

Image : Photo of original 'Skull of a Skeleton with Burning Cigarette' by Vincent Van Gogh

EightAndThreeHundred

Vibration quantum tunnel for bad days therapy. 
Through bones.

Sharks And Birds

Bogeymanize me
Because monsters are free

By l.y.monster

Bogeymanize Me (buried version)

While remaining predominantly unknown except amongst die-hard collectors, Portray Heads has proven to be one of the best kept secrets of the Japanese electronic underground. Tohru Tomita (冨田徹) formed Portray Heads in 1984 in Matsuyama City, the capital of Shikoku Island, with fellow band members Ayumi Tokunaga (徳永あゆみ) and Mikiharu Doi (土居幹治), just after dissolving his solo bedroom project Onanie Bazooka. The trio entered the studio in August that same year and recorded several songs. Two songs from the recorded sessions were released as the band's debut 7" single, a flexi entitled Elaborate Dummy — a lost classic — on Kobe's now defunct Kageroh Records.

Soon after the Elaborate Dummy release, Ayumi, the band's vocalist, departed and Portray Heads worked on recruiting a replacement. They tried several vocalists until, finally, they found Yumi Ochi (越智由美) - who was a perfect fit. She joined the band and the trio went back into the studio between February and April 1986 and recorded Oratorio, their second and final release. They self-released it on cassette in October and as a 7" in December that same year.

As the band was based in a conservative and isolated city, Portray Heads rarely had the opportunity to perform live and eventually disbanded with their two releases quietly becoming collector's items. Upon making contact, band leader Tohru Tomita revealed to us two unheard demo recordings, one from each vocalist featured on their records. These recordings are not merely disposable studio experiments, but actually rival or surpass in quality the group’s released music. With this double LP, Minimal Wave Records and Bitter Lake Recordings present to you the recorded discography of one of the most overlooked and underrated minimal synth projects coming out of Japan in the 1980s.

https://minimalwave.com/releases/release/portray-heads/

https://portrayheads.bandcamp.com/album/portray-heads

Portray Heads

Portray Heads - Elaborate Dummy

New single from ShitKid's new album "20/20 ShitKid", the first ShitKid solo album since 2018's This Is It EP. Out September 25 via PNKSLM Recordings, pre-order at https://www.PNKSLM.com/store

https://www.facebook.som/shitkidmusic/
https://www.facebook.com/PNKSLM/

Listen/buy

ShitKid - "dying to"

Minimal Wave is honored to present a reissue of Jyl‘s self-titled full-length album from 1984, originally released on Klaus Schulze’s Inteam label. Born and raised in California, Jyl travelled to Europe in her twenties to dance and met several talented and like-minded collaborators along the way. She ended up in Germany, and worked with Ingo Werner, Angela Werner, and Klaus Schulze, on what would become one of the most important and forward thinking electronic albums of the time. Shortly after its release, the song “Computer Love” became a mini-hit along with the album’s opening track “Mechanic Ballerina”. The lyrics of “Silicon Valley” and “Computer Generation” are reflective of the times and have become even more relevant now, 36 years later. The production and song arrangement on the album is immaculate. The synthesizers, drum programming and vocal contributions complement Jyl’s voice perfectly. The album contains an incredible depth beyond a regular dance album likely due to the spirit of the people behind it – the list of contributors add to its significance and near-mythological mystery.

After years of searching to no avail, the master tapes were finally located and we were able to remaster them for the best possible audio result. The record is pressed on black 180 gram vinyl and comes housed in a glossy heavyweight sleeve. The sleeve features an updated version of the original artwork, and is accompanied by a 12 page LP-sized booklet, featuring large scale portraits of Jyl from the time, an interview (thank you, Anders Larsson), and all of Jyl’s previously unpublished lyrics. Release date: September 8th, 2020.

https://minimalwave.com/releases/release/jyl/

Jyl – Computer Love

Melodic ride on original drum Phluctuation by amazing Phlux (https://soundcloud.com/phlux_xulhp)

Artwork by l.y.monster

Text based on Reorchestrate poem (https://l-y-monster.tumblr.com/)

A Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left (Andrew Bird cover)

y s e u l t

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