Archive for the ‘1979’ tag
Robot Rock du Jour: Units – High Pressure Days (1979)
There is no substitute for the unadulterated, analog muskiness of an über rare, private pressing 7″ from a pioneering synthpunk band.
These recordings were digitized from near mint copy of this seminal work. Each track is mind-blowing and considerably more raw than the versions found on the 1980 LP, Digital Stimulation. Make sure to check out iNight, too
SCHEMATIC: Original recordings of Cowboy and Cannibals…
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Robot Rock du Jour: Malaria! – Your Turn To Run (1982)
Hot chicks singing over synth punk???!
Sexually charged lyrics, punk angst and synthy goodness earn Malaria! (and others like Honey Bane, The Slits and Pylon) a cherished place in my cybernetic heart. It all happened during a very brief period of time when hot, punk-rocking chicks teamed up with dub producers and took the disco by storm.
SCHEMATIC: A veritable cornucopia of punk disco…
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Robot Rock du Jour: ‘Lectric Funk – Shangaied (1979)
Man, have I ever been there?! There is a ubiquitous sample in this track at 1:53 followed by a pretty sick instrumental jam. I can see why Johnny Jewel (Italians Do It Better) moved to Montreal: This is how chicks dress there. Thank you American Apparel.2
Shangaied (Music Video Version)
SCHEMATIC: LP and 12″ extended versions…
Robot Rock du Jour: Units – Digital Stimulation LP (1980)
High Pressure Days and Cowboy are filthy, gnarly animals.
Let Uncle Rico’s time machine teleport you back to 1977 San Francisco. Eschewing guitars in favor of synths (good move, fellas), Units become one of the very first synthpunk bands. They then start tearing it up, self-releasing the original versions several LP tracks in 1979 on what is now an absurdly rare 7″ record (sells for about £100). This video features the album versions, released in 1980 on the Digital Stimulation LP.
SCHEMATIC: The ENTIRE Digital Stimulation album, band portrait and flyer (via synthpunk)…
Keyser Söze Alert: Magnifique – Magnifique (1979)
There is absolutely no fronting on this straight-up funky disco track from Canada (Ontario, I think)! The video, which features clips from the terrible 1979 flick Roller Boogie, is a stroke of genius. Now, the first three minutes of this song may not do much for you, but when the breakdown begins, the song deconstructs into some pretty trippy disco.
Robot Rock du Jour: Justine and the Victorian Punks – Still You (1979)
This track treads a fine line between funky disco and satin-smooth pillow talk. This particular cut is actually experimental composer/saxophonist Peter Gordon’s lovely re-arrangement of Battisti Lucio’s early Italo track, Ancora Tu, with some lover’s chat provided by pioneering NY-based designer/artist Colette.
SCHEMATIC: Battisti Lucio’s Ancora Tu video and photos of Colette’s work…
Robot Rock du Jour: Units – I-Night (1979)
Damn, this track is sick. I originally had this song in the SCHEMATICS section of the High Pressure Days posting, but this aggro synthpunk brain-melter it is far, far too choice to ride the pine. I-Night is the b-side on the Warm Moving Bodies 7″.
Robot Rock du Jour: Kraftwerk – Autobahn (1974)
An 11-minute face-melting video edit of Kraftwerk’s 23-minute opus. The real cybernetic acid trip is the five-minute breakdown that beings around 3:06. Animation by Roger Mainwood and John Halas in 1979. The video was posted in two parts, so load the rest of the post to view the second half…
SCHEMATIC: Video part two, Mainwood interview and high res vinyl rip…
Party Time: Saturday Robot Party @ The Idle Hour (Baltimore, MD)
VIGR is in the house. 4+ hour rare vinyl set. Need I say more? Hope to see you there! I’ll try to keep track of the setlist…
