Snowy Red ‎– "Vision" (Soundwork ‎– 12003) 1984

I'm not one for an artist repeating itself (yes,i said 'It'), but rather than moving 'forwards' while moving 'backwards', isn't it better to just stop, or change your name.
This album has all the horrific hallmarks of mid-eighties pop, the slack simmons drums, slap bass, soul inflicted vocals, DX-7 style digital chord play, backing singers, brass sections,over used TR808 handclaps, funky guitar....the list goes on. Its like Snowy drafted in Classix Nouveaux as his backing band. 
In the desperate search for that international 'Hit', it seems that Mikey Mike threw the baby out with the bathwater and refilled the tub with syrup,and sump oil. Its so far down the scale of bad that his previous work,which was so far up the scale of 'good', is almost cancelled out. No wonder our Mikey disappeared for a decade or so.
But, perversely, I do enjoy this kind of clueless cheese in the same way as I enjoy easy listening; there's something incredibly strange about it,and it is forever stuck in a time and space that can never, could never, be repeated. 
I told y'all that i dig A Flock Of Seagulls yeah? I frighteningly even like Classix Nouveaux!? My exceedingly guilty secret is well and truly out!

Tracklisting:

A1 The Long Run 5:13
A2 Reputation 2:52
A3 Breakdown 4:06
A4 Sayonara 4:55
A5 Back To Reputation 0:48
B1 Torn Curtain 4:19
B2 Frail Memories 4:41
B3 Torpedo Good Luck 3:49
B4 Vision In Cairo 6:35

DOWNLOAD to readjust your vision HERE!

Snowy Red - "1982 - 84 B-Sides Unreleased & Demos" (2012)

It all went wrong for Snowy,as it did for most of us, around 1984, through the combination of shite new technology and recruiting a band of 'other people'???
The first half of this disc is fine, like normal classic Snowy Red minimalism.Then ,after Megadeath,we get all those pregnant spaces filled up with some funky synth chords,and awful 80's style sampling!!? He starts trying to sing properly like he wanted to be Howard Jones or something worse...if thats possible!?
Obviously, commercial pressures had leeched in from some lurking capitalist in the camp. It was at this moment that the ice caps started to melt and the temperature rose beyond the critical point of no return. Its happening to the Earth, and it happened to Snowy red.
Consequently, the third album, is chart orientated dross packed full of things like digital FM synthesis and slap bass; worse still, he recruited a Band!?
Nevertheless, the first five tracks on here are great! Everyone burns out at some stage, then we fade away.....hopefully in some cases.You gotta know when to quit, and Snowy should have quit round about track 5.

1982 - 84 / B-Sides / Unreleased / & / Demos:

1 Breakdown
2 So Low
3 Red Skies
4 Lies In Your Eyes
5 Megadeath
6 Psychoscratch
7 Back In My Room
8 Reputation
9 The Long Run
10 Torpedo Good Luck

DOWNLOAD the stuff they didn't want you to hear HERE!

Snowy Red - "The Demo Tape" (1981)

As with most demo tapes, they are usually the best thing any artist ever does,and they should just stop right there and get a proper job.
I wouldn't say this demo is the best thing Snowy Red ever did, but its very close to it.Just when you thought it couldn't get anymore minimal, it does. The gaps of existential angst have become crevasses in the glacier, opening out into a dead ocean below the collapsing ice cliffs of frigid electronic beauty.Its chilling allure only rivaled by Suicides haunting 'First rehearsal Tapes'.

1981 The Demo Tape:

1 Sinkin' Down
2 Blood Blood Blood
3 Maud Is Dead
4 Movin' In Twilight
5 Wait For Me
6 Don't Loose Control
7 The Wild Boys

DOWNLOAD a snowy demonstration HERE!

Snowy Red ‎– "The Right To Die" (Dirty Dance ‎– 12002) 1982

Snowy Red aka Marcel Thiel aka Mikey Mike from Belg-Punkers Chainsaw, tells us about the 'Right to Die'. Which is ironic because our Snowy has ,in fact, exercised this very right in 2009, and left this mortal coil to sing with the choir invisible. He is an ex-synthesist, or is he just resting?(Parrot Sketch reference).
Snowy/Marcel/Mikey is, however, Immortal, mainly due to this LP of cold wave electronic minimalism.
We are all biological machines,so it makes sense that to accurately convey the Human condition in the medium of music,machines are the natural tool;in this case the machines being synthesizers.
If i'm allowed to quote Wolfgang from the comments section of Snowy's first album,in reference to track 7 "lies in your Eyes": "Is this the perfect translation of existential angst into music?"(he thought to himself in his native german)......well I reckon it is anyway. Cold electronics have a ruthlessness that emulates natures pitiless path to ensure that nothing gets out of here alive.Our souls appear from nothingness, alone, and we all make the return journey equally alone.Together with our fellow machines,we flesh out this loneliness as best we can to avert malfunction,trapped inside our meat cages.Struggling to make sense of our brief tenure on this lonely rock.Like those super computers/robots in Star Trek that Captain Kirk destroys by arguing simple logic loops.....what is our purpose?...but we have no purpose but to discover our purpose,therefore we do have a purpose. this is purposelessness....does not compute...error ERROR!
This is why we invented GOD.Simple answers to complex questions....just like this simple music is some of the most complex ever produced.Mozart really did use too many notes.

Tracklisting:

A1 Euroshima (Wardance) 4:22
A2 Nowhere 3:40
A3 I'm Hurt 2:40
A4 Never Alive 3:12
A5 Relax 4:51
B1 Opium 4:07
B2 Lies In Your Eyes 7:45
B3 Madman 3:58
B4 The Right To Die 4:35

DOWNLOAD from the black slopes of snowy red HERE!

Snowy Red ‎– "Snowy Red" (Dirty Dance ‎– 12 001) 1981

An absolute classic of the proto-Belgian New Beat era is former Chainsaw bassist's first foray into minimal synth Coldwave, with this eponymously titled debut from 1981.
This is the Belgians equivalent of John Foxx's seminal Metamatic album from the previous year,but slightly less Pop orientated.
The wide snowy spaces between the sparce instrumentation and emotionless voice serve this as a dish colder than well prepared revenge.This glacial functionality (apologies for the dreadful americanism) holds the key to the frightening horror of our existence,like your last thoughts floating in the overwhelming vastness of an empty oblivion.
"Baby Tonight" is dedicated to 'Suicide'(the influential synth duo not the self-destructive act), who were clearly a major influence in Belgium.Especially after the infamous "23 minutes Over Brussels" gig supporting Elvis Costello,which ended in the traditional riot.
Talking about suicide(the self-destructive act not the influential synth duo), track one offers an answer to defeat terrorism forever?......see the funny side of suicide bombers and the pointlessness of their absurb career paths would become clearly apparent to even the stupidist of the morons who want do it.Unless, they are even stupider than we think,which they undoubtedly are;controversial but worth a try surely?

Tracklisting:

A1 How Funny Are Those Explosions
A2 Don't Lose Control
A3 Still Human ?
A4 Maud Is Dead
A5 Deep Desire
B1 The Wild Boys
B2 Sinkin' Down
B3 Baby Tonight
B4 Blood Blood Blood
B5 Come On Dance
DOWNLOAD a small avalanche of snowy red HERE!