12: PSYCHIC YOUTH
‘STEP IN TIME’
(SELF-RELEASED 7″, 1982)

This is a cult Minimal Wave 7” record from the US. It was pressed in Wyandanch, N.Y. in 1982. The A side ‘Step In Time’ is built around the KR55 drum machine, it starts right off with a quick tempo and bouncy synths. The vocal sits in the backround, has nice futuristic lyrics referencing modernity, analog-digital, control, circuits and “the Russian invasion too (in a flash, we’ll be ash)”. The synth sounds and sequencing complement the drum machine perfectly. The B side ‘The Future Now’ is just as great, featuring catchy female vocals and what sounds like an SH09 melody. Listening to this song now, I’m remembering how addictive it is.

13: SNOWY RED
THE RIGHT TO DIE
(DIRTY DANCING LP, 1982)

This is one of my all time favorite records. Again, the driving rhythm is the KR55. Snowy Red aka Micky Mike was Marcel Thiel from Belgium. He started out making minimal synth wave stuff and then called it quits in 1989 with an album called The Beat Is Over. Between 1981 and 1989, he released four LPs, four 7”s and five 12”s. The track ‘Lies In Your Eyes’ has always stuck with me. The intro starts out like an icy landscape of noise filter sweeps and then at the 1 minute mark, the drum machine kicks in, and the synth melodies take over. The noise filter sweeps remain throughout the track creating a nice build up, and are solo’d again for the last minute. It’s seven and a half minutes of pure, stripped-down synth-wave heaven. Another standout is ‘Sinking Down’, which came out on his first LP in 1981. Actually, there are too many great tracks by Snowy Red. Definitely a staple in the Minimal Wave world.

14: FUTURISK
PLAYER PIANO EP
(CLARK HUMPHREY RECORDS 7″, 1982)

Futurisk was a special wave band, with a synth-punk angle. They were a three piece from South Florida who formed in ‘79 when a teenage Jeremy Kolosine won studio time and money in a competition with his drum-machine triggered guitar-synth act Clark Humphrey & Futurisk. Jeremy decided to form a band around the truncated name ‘Futurisk’ and recorded two 7”s on his own label, Clark Humphrey Records. The second, a 5 song EP called Player Piano, came out in 1982. This is a fine example of synthpunk/wave. ‘Meteoright’ is superb as well as ‘Lonely Streets’, which is kind of disco.  According to Kolosine, quoted from Alternative Rhythms (July, 1983), “disco people love us ‘cause of the heavy backbeat to our songs. But then again, rock people who wouldn’t dance to disco can dance to us cause we have that Rock ‘n Roll sound”. A must have!

15: STEPHAN EICHER
STEPHAN EICHER SPIELT NOISE BOYS
(OFF COURSE RECORDS 7″, 1980)

Here’s a completely DIY, Minimal Wave one man band from Switzerland from 1980. Stephan Eicher played in the band Grauzone, known for their hit single ‘Eisbär’. Prior to that, he began recording his solo stuff and releasing it on an independent label called Off Course. This is probably the most minimal release in this list. It’s a 5 song 7” EP, and the songs sound like they were made with one drum machine and one synthesizer. There’s so much emotion coming through his vocals in each track that it doesn’t even matter. He’s really singing and it’s great. ‘MiniMiniMiniMinijupe’ and ‘Disco Mania’ are highlights for me. ‘MiniMiniMiniMinijupe’ starts out with him singing “baby baby baby baby”, and he goes on singing on top of the track. Its definitely spontaneous, like a bedroom recording on a tape recorder late at night. In ‘Disco Mania’, he’s chanting “Dance Dance.. baby baby, let’s dance”. Such simplicity is key to great Minimal Wave.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 26th, 2010 at 1:06 pm and is filed under Features, Lists and tagged with cold wave, Linear Movement, minimal wave, synth-pop. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.