Today Dark Entries gives birth to twins: Jeff & Jane Hudson – Flesh (Expanded) 2xLP edition compiling their complete discography from 1981-1983! This marks our first double LP, first complete discography of a band AND first collaboration with another label: CAPTURED TRACKS! Also released today is STARTER – STARTER LP the catchy long lost classic Swiss Wave album from 1981, just in time to celebrate its 30th anniversary!
DE-015 Jeff & Jane Hudson - Flesh (Expanded) - 2xLP/CD
Dark Entries and Captured Tracks have teamed up to re-issue the debut album Flesh by Jeff & Jane Hudson expanded with an extra LP of singles and EP material. Jeff & Jane Hudson are a husband/wife duo from Boston who got their start in the art punk band The Rentals in 1977. The Rentals broke up in 1980 and Jeff & Jane relocated to Manhattan where they opened for Suicide and quickly signed with No Wave label Lust/Unlust. Their first single No Clubs was released in late 1980 and showcased a lo-fi avant garde all synthesizer band. The World Trade EP came next in 1981, expanding their brand of post-nuclear electronic pop. Their vocals qualities were distinct; Jeff quivery and drug-addled while Jane more detached and icy.
The duo reached their pinnacle with 1982′s seminal Flesh. Perhaps one of the United States biggest achievements in the entire “synth” movement of the 80s. The music was electro-pop employing early Roland synths and the TR-808 drum machine. Jeff’s lyrics flirted with technology and politics, while Jane wrote about cultural and psychological situations. Completely self produced by the band, the record has since been oft-cited as a groundbreaking and pivotal LP of the post-punk era, who’s original copies are now heavily coveted by collectors. Completing the discography is the Special World 7″ released in 1983 before the band emigrated back to Boston and stopped recording and performing.
This deluxe edition has been remastered for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley directly from the original master tapes. LP 1 is the Flesh LP and LP 2 features the No Clubs and Special World singles plus the World Trade EP. Each double LP set comes in a gatefold sleeve with unreleased photos, original artwork and a lyrics sheet. The front cover is a photo by Mark Morrisroe, downtown NY 80s punk and art photographer. This the first time since the original issue that Flesh is reappearing on vinyl format and the first wide-scale digital and CD release these recordings have yet to see. All LPs come with a free digital download card!
Sound clips of all songs here: http://soundcloud.com/darkentriesrecords/sets/jeff-jane-hudson-flesh/
2xLP $20 / CD $12
Digital: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/flesh-expanded/id428589135
DE-016 STARTER - STARTER - LP
STARTER was a minimal electronic/synthpop group from Switzerland, formed in 1980 by vocalist and fashion designer Francis Foss, Claudine Chirac (from fellow Swiss Wave group Grauzone) and Jet Harbour. Originally the band also included Stephan Eicher who co-wrote two songs but departed before the band recorded their debut album. STARTER began in the city of Bern when Francis, Claudine and Jet decided to create their own brand of New Wave music inspired by Gary Numan and Kraftwerk.They released their debut, self-titled album STARTER in the summer of 1981, making this summer the 30th anniversary of this long out-of-print and extremely hard to find LP!
Using early analog Roland and Korg synthesizers, STARTER’S music seamlessly merges wistful electronics from Germany’s Neue Deutsche Welle movement and powerful vocal stylings from French Chanson. Alongside their Swiss Wave contemporaries like Grauzone, Yello, Liliputt/Kleenex, STARTER created a new brand of hallucinatory ‘Techno-Pop’ made up of chopped rhythms, energetic and almost epileptic vocals that are immediately catchy and hypnotic, perfect for the dance-floor. In 1985 STARTER reformed as a duo with Francis Foss on vocals again and Gary Grey on synth/rhythm programming. Their first single “Victim” took cues from Italo Disco and Bobby Orlando’s Hi-NRG dance sounds and is the bonus track on Side B of this LP. The song “Part of You” was chosen as the lead track on the Gomma compilation CD Teutonik Disaster 2 in 2003 recruiting new fans worldwide and ushering Francis Foss to release a homemade CD-R/DVD compilation of the entire STARTER discography in 2004.
All songs have been remastered for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley in 2011. Each LP includes a lyrics sheet with unreleased photos and a STARTER badge/button.
Sound clips of all songs here: http://soundcloud.com/darkentriesrecords/sets/starter-starter-lp
$16
If you are interested in a wholesale quantity send me an EMAIL requesting exact quantity and shipping location.
Also there are many new distributed titles now in the SHOP:
http://www.darkentriesrecords.com/?page_id=47
The next few Dark Entries Records releases are in the works!
Parade Ground – The Golden Years – LP
System Liliputt – Harpa LP
Europa – La Ultima Emocion! LP
Vita Noctis – Against the Rule 2xLP (co-release with Daft Records)