inner nerd » Synth Punk

History: Veronica Vasicka (2010)

beaker — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 19:47:04 +0000

Founder of NY-based revivalist label Minimal Wave talks about her work.

Herself a diamond in the rough, Veronica’s pirate radio station-turned-label has fittingly refocused attention on some spectacular, mostly unknown or forgotten artists. Beyond reissues, Veronica’s bringing to light new talent with a penchant for stripped down, analog sounds, like Medio Mutante.

SCHEMATIC: An interview with Ford Models and a link to the Minimal Wave Facebook group…

Facebook Group

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Robot Rock du Jour: Factory Floor – Real Love (2010)

beaker — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 17:25:42 +0000

I interrupt your regularly scheduled whatever to bring you this uncut diamond from the London underground.

Factory Floor has future classic written all over them. Shows in NY and Philly in late September and early November.

SCHEMATIC: Real Love (Album Version), Lying and Wooden Box…

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Robot Rock du Jour: Units – High Pressure Days (1979)

beaker — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 00:51:01 +0000

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…

Units – Cowboy (7″ Version) (1979)

Units – Cannibals (7″ Version) (1979)

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Robot Rock du Jour: Medio Mutante – Deportes y Sangre (Live) (2010)

beaker — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 05:44:22 +0000

My servo-driven heart blew past 180° when I saw/heard this.

So, I’ve been digging Medio Mutante’s dirty, analog, domestic jamón synth vibe for a while now. This live clip features their first performance of Deportes y Sangre at Wierd Records in NYC. Animal.

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Robot Rock du Jour: Malaria! – Your Turn To Run (1982)

beaker — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 01:39:28 +0000

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…

Honey Bane – Guilty (Dub) (1980)

Honey Bane – Guilty (Vocal) (1980)

Pylon – Cool (1979)

The Slits – I Heard It Through The Grapevine/Bassline (1979)

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Robot Rock du Jour: Futurisk – Player Piano LP (2010)

beaker — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 02:20:36 +0000

Hot off the press!!!

Aptly-named revival label Minimal Wave has compiled Futurisk‘s entire catalog and pressed it on collector-quality 180g vinyl, including this alternate take of their signature track, Meteoright. Destined to be a collectible. At $22, you’d be crazy not to pick one (or two) up.

SCHEMATIC: Need more Futurisk videos??? Get your fix HERE!!!

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Robot Rock du Jour: Units – Digital Stimulation LP (1980)

beaker — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 05:00:34 +0000

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)…

What follows is the entire Digital Stimulation LP with each track listed in its proper order. This album is an opus and deserves a concentrated listen. The last track, Cowboy, is a mind-warping experience. I just yoinked an original 7″ copy of High Pressure Days from eBay and will make/post vinyl rips and videos as soon as it arrives. In related news, an anthology was released in 2009 called History of The Units – The Early Years: 1977 – 1983 and is available through discogs.

Digital Stimulation

Warm Moving Bodies

Go

Mission

Bugboy

Tight Fit

Passions or Patterns

Town by the River

Cowboy

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Robot Rock du Jour: Suicide – Ghost Rider (1977)

beaker — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 03:58:34 +0000

Synthpunk Elvis? People just didn’t make this kind of music in 1977. Yet here it is. While France and Québéc were making space disco, NY was outputting high concept industrial synthpunk blues. Legends Alan Vega and Martin Rev, tearing it up…

SCHEMATIC: Another live version and a brief documentary excerpt…

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Robot Rock du Jour: Units – I-Night (1979)

beaker — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 18:30:16 +0000

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″.

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Party Time: Saturday Robot Party @ The Idle Hour (Baltimore, MD)

beaker — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 04:52:53 +0000

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…

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