cold waves

Photo

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 12:32:03 +0000

Nine Circles - ‘Twinkling Stars’

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 19:56:16 +0100

Nine Circles - ‘Twinkling Stars’

Ruth are the featured artist on the snazzy new Minimal Wave...

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 08:30:25 +0000

Ruth are the featured artist on the snazzy new Minimal Wave Records site. You can buy their 25th Anniversary Deluxe Special Edition Reissue of Polaroïd/Roman/Photo from Minimal Wave by clicking the image of Dan Devine above…

E.Gold (feat. Alexis) - ‘Separate Our Hearts’ (Chris...

Mon, 17 Jan 2011 12:00:00 +0000

E.Gold (feat. Alexis) - ‘Separate Our Hearts’ (Chris Flatline ‘Distance’ Mix)

This synthwave song was released on Angular last summer, and this mix of it is something special. Here’s what was said at the time:

“A classic dance single, influenced by early house music and cold synth sounds, this release goes some way to documenting a burgeoning new clubland ‘scene’.

Helmed by clubs such as Defunkt, Reeperbahn, ECC/Offset Circles and Endurance and defined by the sounds of Coldwave, Italo, EBM, and New Beat, East London’s streets are thrumming to a new sound and this E.P. is an artefact of our times. Each track is a different feeling, by turns euphoric, downbeat, nervy and dreamy, Separate Our Hearts envelopes you, holding your hand whilst you close your eyes.

This release features some impressive remixes too. Chris Flatline is the other half of Alexis Mary’s new group Plus Ultra and his reworking is like a hymn to classic synthesizer soundtracks, Jan Hammer’s ‘Crockett’s Theme’ from Miami Vice is one that springs to mind in particular. The Horrors remix recalls the glitchy post-no wave electronic experimentalism of New York’s Crash Course In Science, and the EP is rounded of by Ghosthunter’s blissed out post dubstep comedown.”

My favourite bit is the Madonna ‘Holiday’ reference at 3.55. Look out for that..!

Pas De Deux - ‘Manimeme’ These guys were...

Fri, 14 Jan 2011 00:06:00 +0000

Pas De Deux - ‘Manimeme’

These guys were Belgium’s offering for the Eurovision Song Contest in 1983.

When introducing them Terry Wogan actually used the words ‘CRYPTO PUNK’.

What if Bucks Fizz had been into synthwave..?

the cosmos is all there ever was…

Thu, 13 Jan 2011 23:20:33 +0000

the cosmos is all there ever was…

Uncut Magazine, Dec 2010 Minimal Synth scene report inc....

Thu, 02 Dec 2010 16:39:09 +0000

Uncut Magazine, Dec 2010

Minimal Synth scene report inc. releases from Angular, Minimal Wave and Mannequin Records.

“Dolorous” - what a great word :-)

‘122 Hours Of Fear’ -...

Fri, 26 Nov 2010 18:29:40 +0000

‘122 Hours Of Fear’ - Screamers

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuccccckkkkkkkkkkkkingggg love Screamers!

RUTH - ‘Polaroïd/Roman/Photo’ (25th Anniversary...

Thu, 14 Oct 2010 16:32:00 +0100

RUTH - ‘Polaroïd/Roman/Photo’ (25th Anniversary Deluxe Special Edition Reissue)

After the acclaim and success of the ‘Cold Waves and Minimal Electronics’ compilation earlier this year, we are proud to announce the release of a 25th Anniversary Deluxe Special Edition reissue from one of the artists featured on this collection. Ruth’s ‘Polaroïd/Roman/Photo’ was consistently noted as one of the standout tracks from the comp, which received glowing reviews across the board; e.g. Pitchfork – 8.2, NME – 8/10, Vice – 9/10.

This wasn’t the case the first time around though. Originally released on Paris Records in 1985 Ruth’s LP sold just 50 copies and was relegated to obscurity until the track “Polaroïd/Roman/Photo” started appearing on bootlegs and compilations in the early 00’s, slowly becoming the cult synth pop classic it is nowadays. An original copy goes for upwards of £300 on ebay and Ruth are a shining light from an oft forgotten music scene that is becoming increasingly influential today.

The deluxe limited edition - on transparent scarlet heavyweight vinyl - features a 12 page booklet of lyrics and photos plus download codes for a digital version of the album which includes six bonus tracks.

Released 22nd November. Click the picture to pre-order!

‘Offset/ECC Mix’ I’m DJ’ing at the...

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 09:40:00 +0100

‘Offset/ECC Mix’

I’m DJ’ing at the fantastic Offset Festival next weekend in the Experimental Circle Club tent after the mighty Charles de Goal. Click on the above picture for a taste of what cold guitar and/or minimal synth pop delights might be played.

Charles de Goal - ‘Exposition’

Taken from their 1981 debut ‘Algorythmes’. Enjoy!

Fall Of Saigon - So Long In true minimal synth fashion Fall Of...

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 09:53:25 +0100

Fall Of Saigon - So Long

In true minimal synth fashion Fall Of Saigon had only one release, a 12” EP in 1983. Fall Of Saigon sounded minimal even by minimal standards, combining softly spoken vocals, toy instruments, low key drum machines and loosely sprinkled bass and guitar to create a very close and private sound reminiscent of Young Marble Giants and their recent heirs The xx.

Marquis de Sade - Back To Cruelty In a recent interview with...

Sat, 07 Aug 2010 18:02:27 +0100

Marquis de Sade - Back To Cruelty

In a recent interview with The Quietus Wierd’s Pieter Schoolwerth talks about the origins of Coldwave. He explains…

“Coldwave was a guitar-driven form of ‘Wave Music’ that was early on quite informed by the icy razor blade guitar sound and high-end heavy drumtracking of the legendary producer Martin Hannett who created Manchester’s Factory Records sound. In 1978 the first great French group in this tradition, Marquis de Sade, released their debut album and two years later journalists trying to describe their sound came up with ‘La Vague Froide’”

La Vague Froide translates directly as The Cold Wave. And Martin Hannett is responsible for many beautiful things, like ‘11 O’clock Tick Tock’ by U2, their second single and a great track, to my ears not unlike La Vague Froide.

U2 met Hannett when he was recording Joy Division, and (this is great trivia!) they were actually present in the studio when ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ was being recorded, presumably looking on in silence wondering whether to bother carrying on. Thank god they did! <3 u Bono

COLD WAVES AT NUMBER ONE IN CHARTS!

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 15:40:12 +0100

COLD WAVES AT NUMBER ONE IN CHARTS!:

Fantastic music website ‘The Quietus’ has compiled their list of the best compilations, re-issues and live albums of the year so far. And guess who’s at number one?

Yep, keep it cold kids…

Quietus Magazine Feature

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 17:58:00 +0100

Quietus Magazine Feature:

Click the above link for an interview with Wierd Records’ Pieter Schoolwerth. Words by Kev Kharas.

”Earlier this year, London’s Angular Recording Corporation released a compilation album entitled Cold Waves And Minimal Electronics. Profiling an analogue (rather than digital) synthpop music conjured into being by an obscured, disconnected constellation of young people living largely in the suburbs and small towns of 1980s continental Europe, the story of the record, of the acts whose music features on it and the contrasts it draws when set against today’s new music are all, I think, hugely interesting.
These are not tales I intend to tell myself, however - for that I have enlisted the help of Wierd Records owner Pieter Schoolwerth, who - in tandem with Angular’s Joe Daniel - gave much sweat to the cause of its compilation. His answers here are similarly exhaustive, dedicated and erudite, and are voluminous enough without the weight of my musings, though it’s worth asserting at this stage that Cold Waves and Minimal Electronics exists and so impresses largely because other things no longer do.”

NEEDLE EXCHANGE II : MINIMAL WAVE RECORDS

Sat, 05 Jun 2010 17:20:00 +0100

NEEDLE EXCHANGE II : MINIMAL WAVE RECORDS:

Another great mix for Self-Titled by Minimal Wave Records founder Veronica Vasicka. Pitchfork say:

“One of the coolest things that Minimal Wave Tapes accomplishes is how nicely it frames the current synth-pop renaissance, reinforcing the idea that there’s room in the garage for sequencers and Korgs as well as guitars and drums…”

Go ahead and GO >

"I feel so desperately chilled"

Fri, 04 Jun 2010 04:04:51 +0100

“I feel so desperately chilled”

- Repetition - ‘The Still Reflex’

WIERD NEEDLE EXCHANGE : 'Warm Waves and Maximal Electronics'

Fri, 04 Jun 2010 03:43:06 +0100

WIERD NEEDLE EXCHANGE : 'Warm Waves and Maximal Electronics':

A great mix for self-titled magazine by Wierd Records founder Pieter Schoolwerth. He say:

“This mix was very much the sound of the Wierd Party in its earliest days, when it was just a handful of close friends sitting around the Southside Lounge in Brooklyn, playing our favorite long-forgotten records late into the night.”

Dig it.

Interview with Joe D about Cold Waves, iD mag.

Wed, 12 May 2010 17:24:50 +0100

Interview with Joe D about Cold Waves, iD mag.

Peter Van Garderen and Lidia The Rose in 1982 Nine...

Mon, 03 May 2010 11:09:00 +0100

Peter Van Garderen and Lidia The Rose in 1982

Nine Circles - ‘Twinkling Stars’

The Stool Pigeon, Cold Waves review - “There’s a touching story behind ‘Twinkling Stars’ by Dutch group Nine Circles. When Angular Records boss Joe Daniel managed to track down the vocalist to seek permission to use the track on this compilation, she burst into tears. She now calls herself The Rose and runs a foster home in Amsterdam, but she was 14 at the time of the recording, which she had never heard before (it was made without the group’s knowledge). Asked for a photo to go on the record’s sleeve, she submitted a ‘Greetings From Amsterdam’ postcard from the early-eighties. And there she was on the front, eating an ice cream.”

One of the most unusual stories on the compilation. Nine Circles never entered a recording studio and performed only once, at a Dutch radio station in 1982. Unbeknownst to them the engineer recorded the session and over the years it was bootlegged over and over becoming a Flexipop cult track. Lidia the Rose never found out about this until I rang her up last summer. It was a bizarre and emotional phone call. Imagine being told that the music you’d made as a teenager was not lost in the ether after all but in fact a minimal electronic classic of 28 years vintage. Pretty weird.

Here are some of Lidia The Rose’s recollections of her teenage tape loop group and her first love:

“Nine Circles was Peter and me and the time we were together. There is no one who can give me that same feeling with making music.

The song Twinkling Stars was made in a period that I was very much busy with space, wondering when a ufo will come and get me. It was also the time I was very much in love with Peter. I believe there is more out there, we are just a little part of it.

When our relationship ended Nine Circles was no more, we never met again until seven months ago on internet. I had the idea that people did not understand the music and lyrics back than. I only heard a couple of months ago that there was music on a cd and tape. I was very surprised, since than a lot has happened. I am working with Peter together he is sending me the rest of the songs of Nine Circles, and i can do with it what I want.

I think it’s very nice that the music is not forgotten. It was for me a very important and still it is the best I ever had and did. Bringing these memories back gives me a good feeling. What I dream about now is bringing Nine Circles back, there are so many nice songs left that nobody heard yet and maybe this is the time they understand it.”

You can hear Lidia The Rose talking about this and more on the Guardian Music Weekly Podcast from a few weeks ago.

Ruth - ‘Polaroïd/Roman/Photo’ (Alternate...

Thu, 29 Apr 2010 09:52:05 +0100

Ruth - ‘Polaroïd/Roman/Photo’ (Alternate Mix)

I’ve already mentioned this song a few times on this blog so I won’t go into it all again. Suffice to say I never tire of listening to it and I could probably listen to on repeat all day long forever and find something new to love about it with each spin. It’s so very alluring.

It was written by experimental musician Thierry Muller for fun to see if he could write a pop song and I guess this is why it sounds so playful and spontaneous. This is an alternate mix, with a few things done differently. The horns are different and there’s a different (but equally as coquettish) female singer. I asked him how the track originally came about and he told me:

‘I wanted to write a pop song which could be played on radio and in discotheque and which made girls dance and laugh about boys. It took time, but now it is in discotheque and in party.’

So you can be a legend in your own time, it just takes twenty years.