Many of you will be familiar with Minimal Wave, the peerless synth reissue label operated by Veronica Vasicka.
Less well-known is its sister label Cititrax, which is dedicated to 12″ pressings of “new music and old favourites”, generally tending towards downtown disco, electro and boogie. Its latest release is comprised of four specially commissioned remixes of Futurisk‘s 1982 classic ‘Lonely Streets’. The band’s Jeremy Kosoline explains the project’s origins and introduces the contributors:
“For the remixes, we wanted to make sure that they werent ‘modernized’ or ‘techno’ versions of the tracks, but remixes with the same analogue and dance/rock sensibilities of the time when the original tracks were created, utilizing those very same stem tracks. I believe we have accomplished this with the forthcoming ‘Lonely Streets’ Remix 12inch vinyl.
The first remix 12inch will be dedicated to the track ‘Lonely Streets,’ with a remix by synth legend Chris Carter, whose version is one that I would have dreamed of doing back in 1982, had we the time and funds and equipment. Prince Language’s version captures the feel of the song beautifully with the utilization of all the stems, especially the real drum tracks that were part of Futurisk’s signature sound, stirring up the No Wave styles that also influenced us at the time. It was also a pleasure to hear Tom Furse’s Moroder-esque electropunk take, sounding like a missing track from a late 1970′s sci-fi flick and finally Complexxion’s track with the feel and approach of Arthur Baker, Martin Rushent, Daniel Miller and Kraftwerk of course, all of which were big influences on the members of Futurisk.”
The candle of South Florida electro-punks Futurisk burned only briefly, but their influence has been lasting, with notable fans including DFA’s James Murphy. Last year – the band’s 30th anniversary – Minimal Wave released an LP retrospective of their 1980-82 work, Player Piano, featuring all the tracks from their two official 7″ releases plus rare studio recordings and early 4-track cuts.
We’re also pleased to note that the Minimal Wave and Cititrax back catalogues have been re-pressed and are now receiving proper UK/European distribution. So if you’ve not got your copies of Sylvi Foster‘s oddball italo anthem ‘If Are You Master’, Medio Mutante‘s Inestable EP and Z-Factor‘s Dance Party Album (an essential selection of raw, 808-derived Chicago club jams helmed by Jesse Saunders), then now’s your chance.
Lonely Streets Remixes is out now. More information here.