Minimal Wave Releases

Dust Under Brightness / Highway Dark Veins

2012-05-11T21:29:55+00:00

Minimal Wave is proud to present a 12” single from our French favorites, In Aeternam Vale. The single features the original unedited 12 minute version of hypnotic dancefloor track Dust Under Brightness (1988) accompanied by Highway Dark Veins (1987) on the flipside, a rare, cult 13 minute techno track. The record is pressed on 160 gram white vinyl, comes in a white hand stamped sleeve and is limited to 500 numbered copies. Full length Dust Under Brightness album will be available soon.

Dust Under Brightness

2012-05-11T20:11:44+00:00

Minimal Wave is proud to present a second volume of selections from our French favorites, In Aeternam Vale. Culled from a vast archive of recordings, these tracks were originally self-released on various cassettes by the band’s frontman Laurent Prot between 1985-1988. The sound ranges from early EBM / industrial to gristly coldwave to dark reverby guitar psychedelia. This record illustrates the stylistic range that, through experimentation and fearlessness, Laurent Prot and Pascal Aubert were capable of producing. To quote a review from In Aeternam Vale’s self-titled LP (2009) : “All the caustic, lazy, lowbrow/highbrow genius is there and even though the music is still raw, ramshackle and DIY-sounding, it’s produced and mastered like a MOTHERF***R!”. MW036 is a limited edition pressing of 999 hand-numbered copies, housed in matte heavy weight printed sleeve and black paper innersleeve. Special thanks to Eamon Ore-Giron for providing the cover painting.

Clean Tables Have To Be Burnt

2012-04-12T01:11:51+00:00

Minimal Wave is proud to present our 35th release, a full length LP release entitled “Clean Tables Have To Be Burnt” by UK legends Hard Corps, a band we’ve been long time admirers of. Aside from their releases on Survival and Polydor, Hard Corps gained some notoriety for their unique and uncompromising live shows throughout the 1980s. It was the juxtaposition between their hard edged industrial sound and the fragile and enigmatic vocals of French frontwoman Regine Fetet that created an unusual dichotomy, lending to their strength of character as a band and thus allowing them to stand out from the rest.

A 12” white label, released by Survival Records, containing the hammering rhythmic attack of Dirty and the softer, melodic, pulse of Respirer (To Breathe) was circulated around London’s dance floors. In no time a wave of attention hit them and throughout 1984 and into 1985 they dominated the independent pop charts.
John Peel championed them on his infamous late night Radio One show and they headlined at his ICA Rock Week in the Mall, London. By 1985 Hard Corps had signed with major label giants Polydor. This enabled the band to work with a couple of their favoured and respected producers, Martin Rushent (known mostly for his exceptional work with the Human League) and Depeche Mode producer and Mute Records supremo, Daniel Miller. These sessions provided the public with just one single due to the labels non-promotion, Je Suis Passée, a sweeping arrangement of breathtaking beauty, combining pumping sequences and sheer power of emotion of Regine’s voice.
The band went on a major tour with The Cure in 1985 and Depeche Mode in 1988, before finally disintegrating.

Now for the first time ever, rare unreleased versions of Hard Corps tracks from the 1980s have been remastered and are being made available. “Clean Tables Have To Be Burnt” is a 180 gram vinyl pressing limited to 999 copies with double sided inner sleeve featuring a beautiful group shot and all of Regine’s lyrics.

Mutual Dreaming

2012-04-10T18:31:31+00:00

Our sublabel Cititrax, is proud to present new music from Brooklyn based synth duo Innergaze. Their second LP, “Mutual Dreaming” is a highly anticipated release and we’re ecstatic that the vinyl is finally out.

“Innergaze drag us slightly further back into the glorious cradle of dance music. Their music, crushed and static, obscured by sound. EBM, coldwave, early techno fight it out for dominance of the drum machine. Casually brutal vocals force their way through from the Death Factory. As if Chris & Cosey’s dalliances with the Eurythmics had conjured a restless pioneering demon to duet with Annie Lenox but had instead ended up consuming her. Celestial synths coexisting with the industrial landscape bellow.” -20 Jazz Funk Greats

“Innergaze is the musical project of Aurora Halal and Jason Letkiewicz – Letkiewicz is known for his work with or as Manhunter, Steve Summers and Rhythm Based Lovers; Halal a video editor and director. It’s pretty clear that Innergaze is a wholly collaborative effort, as Letkiewicz’s penchant for pulsing beats and organic house mingles with the hazy, psychedelic new-age atmospheres that shine through Halal’s video work, together creating something that could loosely fall under the ‘minimal synth’ tag. Don’t expect some sort of easily placeable sound, though – Innergaze has far more personality than your average electro duo, relying on intuition, emotion and a good jam session to create their music, not a rigid set of pre-determined parameters. Together, it’s like a robot coated in human flesh, sentient yet vaguely artificial, and like most cyborgs portrayed on TV, quite beautiful. I’m pretty sure they are in love, too, which is an interesting dynamic for a sound that often relies on aesthetic impassiveness.” - YellowGreenRed

The “Mutual Dreaming” LP is a limited pressing of 999 copies on 160 gram vinyl, housed in a high quality full color printed sleeve featuring a collaborative artwork concept by Veronica Vasicka and Aurora Halal.

The Minimal Wave Tapes, Vol. 2

2012-02-24T16:56:22+00:00

This is the second volume of The Minimal Wave Tapes series, a collection of rare electronic music compiled from bands around the world, Most of the songs were recorded in the 1980s and originally released on limited edition cassettes or vinyl by the artists themselves, and only a handful of people knew about them. Now they’ve been remastered from their analog source tapes, brought to you by Veronica Vasicka and Peanut Butter Wolf.

Hunker

2012-01-19T21:40:47+00:00

We’re proud to announce our 34th release, a limited edition hand-silkscreened 10” release of Schedelvreter (which loosely translates as “Skull Gobbler”), the Dutch side project of brilliant minimal synth pioneer Danny Bosten, best known for his project Das Ding. The seven tracks were originally recorded in Danny’s home studio and self-released on a cassette entitled Hunker via his Tear Apart Tapes label in 1985. The newly remastered 10” release will be out in late January, and will be limited to 999 hand-silkscreened numbered copies pressed on black medium weight vinyl.
Unlike Das Ding, Schedelvreter is not pattern-based or sequenced, the synth sounds are hand played over a collage of found sounds. At the time, Danny was experimenting with a Crumar synth that was falling apart, and would sporadically create sounds that were like human voices. He created massive drum sounds by layering noise, using leftover four-track additions in reverse and some live drum recordings courtesy of his brother’s tapes. The end result feels narrative and filmic, like the sound track to an imaginary apocalyptic movie: bleak and desolate.

Minimal Wave Tote Bag

2011-10-17T23:33:03+00:00

Hand silkscreened Minimal Wave tote bag in durable 10 ounce black 100% cotton canvas. Made in the USA. Great for carrying records! Dimensions are: 18” wide x 15” high x 5” gusset and 1 1/2” wide x 23” long cotton webbing handles.

Minimal Wave Tote Bag (Natural)

2011-10-16T17:17:07+00:00

Hand silkscreened Minimal Wave tote bag in lightweight 7 ounce natural 100% cotton canvas. Made in the USA. Great for carrying a couple records! Dimensions are: 14.5” wide x 15.5” high and 22” long cotton enforced handles.

Orgelvärk

2011-10-05T22:07:54+00:00

Minimal Wave proudly presents a newly remastered vinyl edition of the cult Swedish cassette compilation Orgelvärk, subtitled “en stadig samling svensk synthmusik” – “a solid collection of Swedish synth music”. Orgelvärk is a compilation of Swedish synthpop, experimental and industrial music representative of the underground tape scene that thrived there in the 1980s. Many of the bands didn’t quite fit into one particular genre, and most remained unknown. They lived in small villages and were making what can be described as electronic folk music.
Orgelvärk was originally compiled and released on cassette in 1986 by Tor Sigvardson, also known for his own musi- cal project 18:e Oktober and cassette label Neuköln. The vinyl edition includes five previously unreleased tracks which were submitted to Tor for the original 1986 cassette release but due to space limitations, never made it on there. All the audio has been remastered from the original tapes especially for vinyl by Tor himself. Limited edition of 999 hand-num- bered copies, pressed on 160 gram vinyl and presented in a matte gatefold jacket with a letter from Tor accompanied by further information on the bands.

Automaticism

2011-10-05T20:41:06+00:00

Sympathy Nervous is the project of Japanese artist Yosihumi Niinuma. Influenced by both classical and Krautrock, he began recording in 1979, and released several records on the highly coveted Vanity label. He continued to record and self-release much of his work throughout the 80s and 90s. His sound is intelligent and probably the most unique minimal synth to come out of Japan. Exploring dystopian themes, his music is well balanced and beautifully recorded.

Automaticism features songs Yosihumi Niinuma recorded between 1979-1981. Most were originally slated for a cassette release but never saw the light of day until now. When the Tsunami washed away the coast of Japan last March 2011, Niinuma lost everything: an entire lifetime of recordings, instruments, hand built sequencers, and even his home. Fortunately, he had sent us his audio masters prior to the disaster. This release is fully dedicated to him, in memory of all his lost recordings. The record is pressed on 180 gram ultra clear vinyl and comes in a printed heavy clear sleeve, with Niinuma’s account of what happened on that day of March 11, 2011 and the months that followed. This is a benefit album, all the proceeds go to the artist. Special thanks to Narumi Omori for translation assistance and Gustavo Eandi for cover art.

Please note: Due to pressing plant delays, all orders which include this LP will be shipped after October 18th.