Minimal Synth / Minimal Wave / Synth Pop

http://www.last.fm/music/SELOFAN wrote:booking europe : madaboutmusic@live.be

strictly analogue narrations about love and the loss of it, death and the fear of it, sexuality and the repression of it, addictions, psychological weaknesses or strengths, all our own personal ghosts, which distinguish humans from other species

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linea_Aspera_(band) wrote:Linea Aspera were a dark wave-minimal wave band formed in London, England that were active from 2011 to 2013. A musical duo, they were fronted by vocalist Alison Lewis, with Ryan Ambridge on synthesizers; Lewis wrote the lyrics while Ambridge wrote the electronics, as well as mixing and producing the recordings.[

http://www.last.fm/music/In+Trance+95 wrote:In Trance 95 was an electronic duo from Athens Greece. Both Alex Machairas and Nik Veliotis were experimenting with analog synthesizers from 1985 and after an accidental meet at 1988 they formed what would stay in history as the only purely electronic band that came from Greece in the 80's

http://minimalwave.com/releases/release/still-human/ wrote:Transparent Illusion was the brainchild of Roy Young (a pseudonym), hailing from Haverhill, Suffolk, UK. Equipped with just one synthesizer and a drum machine, he entered Octopus Studios located in Stowupland, Suffolk sometime in 1980 to record the ultimate minimal electronic music album. Roy’s music is quite unique and exemplifies the fact that limitation can be the perfect source for heightened creativity: his rather raw sound is based solely on his Korg MS-10 synthesizer, a monophonic synth. As illustrated on this album, Roy had a great imagination and even though the tracks are mostly quite short they are far from being poor texturally, with brilliant analogue synth sounds all throughout (bass, monophonic lead synths, effects, synthetic percussion). Engineer Dave Hoser is said to have helped in the performance, thus it can be concluded that, as a team they truly mastered the MS-10. While the lyrics are testimony to an angst-ridden teenager living in Thatcherian Cold War Britain (“This cage is barred – I’m trapped inside”, “I just recede – I dream I’m you”, “Dead bodies decaying – all over the town”, “There’s no way out of this nightmare”), the music, to some surprise, reveals many uplifting moments in terms of unexpected melodic parts. So, over the recent years, some people have described “Still Human” as being the ‘Holy Grail’ of minimal electronic music, while others say it is totally overrated.

http://www.last.fm/music/Robert+Rental wrote:Scottish electronics experimenter who came to prominence in the late seventies with home made release, Paralysis, produced by friend and collaborator, Thomas Leer. Released only two solo singles which for fans of the period are well worth hunting down. Rental’s major output, though, was in collaborative work, recording with both Leer and Mute supremo, Daniel Miller’s alter-ego, The Normal.

http://www.last.fm/music/Opera+Multi+Steel wrote:Opera Multi Steel was born during the winter 1983-1984 in Bourges, a city in the centre of France. In the beginning, the band was first set up by Franck Lopez, his brother Patrick L. Robin and Catherine Marie. A four track 45 RPM recorded in 1984, was the first essay of the group in studio work. The following year saw the releasing of « Cathedrale », a 10 track album dedicated to this famous gothic building of Bourges. The band gave numerous concerts and played in several french festivals. It also contributed to many K7 and record compilations on french and european independant labels.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camouflage_(band) wrote:Camouflage is a German new wave trio consisting of lead singer Marcus Meyn (b. May 2, 1966), Heiko Maile and Oliver Kreyssig. Their only Billboard Hot 100 hit was "The Great Commandment" which climbed to No. 59 in 1988, though it did spend three weeks at No. 1 on the US dance chart. They also had two additional minor dance hits in 1989.

http://www.last.fm/music/Skeleton+Hands wrote:As the moon shown down into the deep, cavernous landscape so did Skeleton Hands; when two pioneers of the outer reaches came together to conquer the dark and the light. Skeleton Hands is comprised of only two, Lazer Bat, master of rhythm, atmosphere, and words; and Astro Wolf, an axe-wielding, melodic beast of prey who gets his powers from the moon. However, together they concoct a sound reminiscent of both the pioneers of electronic music as well as the post-punk movement all with a joyful darkness that rumbles the floor and circles the atmosphere.

http://www.last.fm/music/The+Silicon+Scientist wrote:The Silicon Scientist (a.k.a. Stefan Bornhorst from Bremen/northern Germany) started to play the piano at the age of 8 (in 1980), and got in touch with “analogue” synthesis when messing around with the Commodore 64’s SID chip in the 1980s. His first real analogue synth was the Korg MS10 in 1991, followed by more analogue synthesisers, string machines and a Mellotron when they were still affordable

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_More_(band) wrote:No More were founded by Andy A. Schwarz (vocals, guitar, bass), Tina Sanudakura (synthesizers), Christian Darc (drums, vocals) and Thomas Welz (bass, vocals) in Kiel, a seaside town in the northern part of Germany. The 7" EP "Too Late" was the first release in 1980 and was recorded in a small laundry-room with a 4-track TEAC (the EP was reviewed in the German SOUNDS-magazine as "strangely, archaic music, brute sound that seems to be recorded with a purposely damaged 4-track"). After the departure of Thomas Welz at the end of 1980, No More worked as a trio until the end of 1983.
The song "Suicide Commando" (released in 1981 and not to be confused with the Belgian band Suicide Commando, who named themselves after that song) is the band's biggest success. The New Musical Express described "Suicide Commando" as "suitable German electro fashion" but the song spread in the following years internationally regardless of genre and scene. In the 1990s the song entered the Techno- and Electroscene, when it was remixed by DJ Hell and Echopark (Moguai & Torsten Stenzel).
In 1982 No More released the mini-LP "A Rose Is A Rose" this time reviewed by the NME as "made by a trio of young Germans who appear to have fallen out of Lou Reed´s 'Berlin' album". After the release of "A Rose Is A Rose" No More decided to change direction. The new style was a mixture of darkwave and oriental elements.
In 1984 Thorsten Hartung (bass) joined the band. In the slipstream of the "Suicide Commando" success No More started to tour Germany and the Low-Countries but soon refuse to play the song. No More decided to go separate ways at the end of 1986, shortly after finishing their album "Hysteria". Tina Sanudakura und Andy A. Schwarz form the band Nijinsky Style.
In 2006 No More (condensed in the duo Tina Sanudakura and Andy A. Schwarz) release a new album called "Remake/Remodel". At the end of 2008 they start touring again and in January 2010 the single "Sunday Mitternacht / A Rose Is A Rose" is released. The album "Midnight People & Lo-Life Stars" was released in March 2010, followed by the 2012 album "Sisyphus".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rational_Youth wrote:Rational Youth is a Canadian new wave synthpop band, primarily active between 1981 and 1986.

http://www.last.fm/music/A+Flock+of+Seagulls wrote:Liverpool, England (1979 – 1985, 1995 – present)

A Flock of Seagulls is a Grammy Award winning synthpop group formed in 1979 in Liverpool, England by brothers Mike Score (keyboards, vocals) and Ali Score (drums), joining with Frank Maudsley (bass) and Paul Reynolds (guitar), that gained popularity and subsequently infamy in the early days of MTV with the videos for their songs “I Ran (So Far Away)” (sometimes known just as “I Ran”) and “Space Age Love Song” , the latter in which showcased lead singer Mike Score’s distinct haircut. To this day, they remain firmly identified with their songs from the early 80s, international hit tracks that garnered them a Grammy for best instrumental performance.

Their 1982 self-titled debut album, coming after their 1981 EP ‘Telecommunication’. involved themes of alien abduction and disorientation in modern society, comparable to space rock. The band split in 1985 after later songs, taking in inspiration from commercial pop rock of the era instead, failed to reach an audience. Score reformed the band with new members in 1995. The original lineup reunited for a handful of small club dates in 2003. Since then, Score has sporadically performed his version of the band with a fluctuating lineup.

http://www.last.fm/music/The+Actor wrote:The Actor (Netherlands)


It all started in 1980 with five musicians having a jam session playing only one chord (D minor). Singer and songwriter Marcel Reimer thought up the lyrics as he was singing. Thus unintentionally giving birth to “The Actor”, which was the main character in the song “Unreal Personality” that resulted from this jam session. Later, Marcel teamed up with Sander Horsthuis, whom he knew very well from Art School. The Actor had become a duo.

Exploded View (1982)

In the beginning of the eighties, a new phenomenon emerged: home taping. This way of making music resulted in a lot of noise. But that was less important then getting one’s music published. A well known dutch label for cassette bands in those days was Trumpett Tapes. They were the first to publish the music of The Actor, who became their top selling cassette band in 1982 and 1983. The Actor’s first release was Exploded View in 1982. The songs - sung both in English and German - often related to fashion, modernism, dancing and appearence. This made The Actor “quite fashionable.”

A New Concept Every Day (1984)
The Actor’s second music project was called A New Concept Every Day. It was the year 1984. The New Wave scene had reached its peak. A New Concept Every Day introduced a third band member. Sabien Jilesen was a good looking girl with a golden voice. This second cassette also introduced a new sound with the instrumental “Le Champ d’Honneur”. No funeral would ever be the same again. The song became the opening of almost every performance.

http://www.discogs.com/artist/159060-Body-Electric-The wrote:One of the first electronic bands in New Zealand, and hugely influential, The Body Electric were formed in 1982 by Alan Jansson, although he was credited on first releases as Alan Jimson, and Andy Drey. During their initial rehearsals, they were then joined by actor-turned-singer Garry Smith. The group's debut single, Pulsing, was picked up by radio programmers and spent 27 weeks in the charts. Not entirely indicative of their sound, the track has a novelty quality to it. Following the success of Pulsing, Andy Drey was replaced by Spines bassist Wendy Calder and the group released two more minor hits (Dreaming In A Life and Imagination) and a full length album before splitting in 1984.

Jansson went into record production in Auckland and had a global hit with OMC in the 1990s, and Smith was later the manager of The New Zealand Ballet Company.

http://www.last.fm/music/Mesh wrote:Mesh are a synthpop/ebm group, hailing from Bristol, England, UK consisting of Mark Hockings and Richard Silverthorn. Neil Taylor was in Mesh from their conception in 1991 until 2005. Their music is described by their official website as “somewhere between synthpop and EBM”. Personally they prefer the term ‘Electro rock’.

http://www.last.fm/music/John+Maus wrote:John Maus (born February 23, 1980) is an American composer and a lecturer in political philosophy and theory at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa. He has released three studio albums and numerous demos. He has performed with Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, Holy Shit and other bands such as Panda Bear.