Tone Set - " VOD Box Set Promo's" (2015)

The very good theoretical combo from Arizona.Tone Set, have a box set thats just come out on Vinyl on Demand. Galen Herod, of said minimal synth legends, has kindly sent some rather entertaining promotional tracks to,hopefully, encourage you to purchase the aforementioned potential material possession.Which,if you're bourgeois enough,will cost you just a small percentage of your swollen wallet.But; if you're at the sharp end of the austerity measures from those fucking wankstains who call themselves politicians,then it will be unattainable....but these lovely Promo's are an example of that rare adjective in these grey days...FREE STUFF!

I'll let the great man, Mr Galen Herod himself, explain further in an e-mail i cut'n'pasted hither:

"hello again,

you (thats me.JZ) posted a bootleg tone set cd a few years back,

The only problem being it was a bad transfer. No bass.

vinyl on demand is reissuing the stuff on that cd as

well as 62 previously unreleased tracks in a 5LP box with bonus single.

We made new good transfers of everything.

i have made 3 promos for the box. The first is an overview featuring "cal's ranch"

so you can hear the quality difference. The other 2 feature the unreleased tracks.

They are done in tone set style with inbetween found clips."

DOWNLOAD these promotional items HERE!

BUY it HERE!

AD ‎– "Conspiracy" (Diamond Age ‎– AD 22957) 1979

Another 'Minimal Synth' classic(?),with,rather strangely, a very minimal amount of synth on it!? Its more along the lines of some anemic guitar strumming proto-indie than minimal electronica. Firmly in the 'Solid Space' area,but without the tunes. It does however have a couple of decent synth work-outs amongst the feeble guitar pop ditties, the stand out being the title track "Conspiracy".

Conspire to DOWNLOAD HERE!

Data-Bank-A ‎– "Access Denied" (K.O. City Studio ‎– KO5) 1986

Well, here's a third post for Data-Bank-A,dunno anything else to say about them, so I'll post a picture that sums up my feelings/thoughts on the matter.

Well.If that doesn't make you wanna download this file I dunno what will!?

Tracklist

A1 Access Denied
A2 Stress Factor
A3 Trickle Down
A4 The Range
B1 Etiquette Of Travel
B2 No Mecca
B3 Waiting Room
B4 Once...
DOWNLOAD access accepted HERE!

Data-Bank-A ‎– "The Citadel" (K.O. City Studio ‎– KO2) 1984

Minimal Synth hits the cheap digital reverb age,and becomes maximal synth instead.Artificial ambience destroyed the spatial claustrophobic simplicity of earlier electronic product.This stuff has been labelled 'Cold Wave' by some record collector geek,and it has some undeniable charm.The dated overuse of reverb,and futurist production gives this a modish generic quality from a dodgy epoch in music making. I imagine major record label bins were crammed full of stuff like this in 1984-5.Your only chance was to release it yourself,which is kinda opposite to the original DIY ethic, where the Record Company bins were full of stuff totally alien to the things the kids were making. So this is DIY by default......but at least it wasn't sullied by those charts.

Tracklist:

A1 The Milky Way 4:34
A2 Shapes Of Love 4:47
A3 Echoes Of You 4:28
A4 Signals To Russia 5:14
B1 A Thousand Mondays 4:00
B2 Dead - Weight 5:32
B3 Drug - God 3:56
B4 The Citadel 4:20
DOWNLOAD to your data bank HERE!

Data-Bank-A ‎– "Language Barrier" (K.O. City Studio ‎– KO3) 1984

Its 1984, and More Americans are making that Faggot music with Synthesisers. I can imagine a mob of good ol' boys giving that black clad pale youth with eyeliner and fringe, a good kicking;smashing up his Roland SH101, and carving AC/DC on his under developed pectorals.
What better way to react against the NRA (Nationalist Rock of America) than making a synth pop record?
In the dumber parts of this grating country, you took your life in your hands making non-rock music like this. Don't forget this is a place where, in 2016, far more citizens were murdered by the cops than were murdered by Terrorists.They should be bombing the Police stations rather than ISIS in Syria, if they want to defend the American People.
What they wanna do is have more GLBT's than 'Skull and Bones' Paedophiles in their joke of a democratic government.Then, the war would be called OFF,and Texas closed down.
Having said that, I've no idea if Data-Bank-A have any GLBT's,or even 'Skull and Bones' paedophiles within their ranks,nor do I care;but to an inbred cowpoke and his sister/wife, they certainly will sound like they do.
Nor, do they come from Texas.....lucky them.
But, it is a half decent minimal synth tape,and that's worth more than any boneheaded Grunt blowing away some dehumanised Arab kids like its all a PlayStation game.

Tracklist:

A1 Language Barrier
A2 Incognito
A3 Megalomania
A4 Saviour Machine
A5 Dog's Life
A6 The Path Least Taken
B1 Distant Ego Channel
B2 No Dub
B3 Outside The Museum
B4 Monestary
B5 Effect Of Movement
B6 Through The Remains...

DOWNLOAD lots of data from the bank,then withdraw your money from your economic terrorist bank,HERE!*

*Whoops! I mentioned Terrorism,so hello to the GCHQ/NSA employee who has to read this crap.....download the tape instead, its good.

Tangerine Dream - "Live in Coventry Cathedral,England, 4th October 1975"

I'll bet a pound to a pinch of shit that at least Chris Jones from The Sea Of Wires attended this famous Tangerine Dream performance in the rather attractive Coventry Cathedral. Built,as mentioned in the previous post, next door to the original Cathedral which was one of the many victims of the Luftwaffe's carpet bombing of the city's central areas in 1940. So, ironically, here we have a different kind of German doing something constructive in that very same city;doing something far more worthwhile than the British Modernist architects of the 1950's,who made the place into something out of A Clockwork Orange.
So for those of you what is interested....here's some major label Kosmiche Krautrock from the Berlin School of Electronics. These fellows were as influential on the cassette underground as anyone.Inspiring hoards of bedroom dwelling loners to pick up a synthesiser and make some fuzzy cosmic cassettes.

Tracks:

1. Part 1
2. Part 2
3. Encore

DOWNLOAD these nice germans doing good HERE!

The Sea Of Wires ‎– "Recordings 1980-82" ( Vinyl-on-demand ‎– VOD131.9/10) 1980-82 / 2014

As we've established in the previous post that Another view weren't from Coventry after all;here's an electronic act who were; The Sea Of Wires. Sounds pretty much like my music office here at Die Or Diy HQ.
There seems to be a few electronic bands from this west Midlands eyesore? I blame it on Tangerine Dreams much lauded gig at Coventry Cathedral in 1975, one of the better modernist buildings in the town. Ironic that a German group played there when it was their parents generation who flattened the original cathedral;the ruins of which are right next door as a reminder.
Sea Of Wires are obviously a very TD or electronic krautrock influenced combo,and ,probably as a belated sorry for destroying their city, a German reissue label has ..coff.....reissued SOW's back catalogue; although with a few tracks missing,but as usual you can find those on this blog.....HERE.
These versions are naturally of superior quality to the cassette tapes,so I have posted these for you to contrast and compare.....personally I prefer the tape versions.
An analogue bubble bath that compares favorably with a hit of morphine.

Tracklist:

Individually Screened

1 – Invincible 7:15
2 – Is The New Man Human 8:30
3 – Return Of The Captain 2:15
4 – Robot Dance 2:19
5 – Breathing 8:30
6 – An Endless Rainy Day 16:15
7 – Seascape 12:10

Diversions

8  – The Man Who Smiles 3:50
9  – S.O.W. (The Sea Of Wire) 5:50
10 – New Age (With Apologies To You Know Who) 5:40
11 – It Will Never Work 3:00
12 – The Nightmare Continues Edit To 3:00

Beyond The Edge Of Tomorrow

13 – Recollections Of Death 29:54

DOWNLOAD a sea of zero's and ones HERE!

Another View ‎– "A Career In Dancing" (Abstractions ‎– ABS-0004) 1980

For some bizarre reason I always thought Another View came from Coventry!?.....so that's the tenuous reason I have posted this tape today to link it to the previous 'Cov' Bands. Apprently he came from that other masterpiece of British architecture, Luton.
I reckon its because I received this in the post the same day as those other Coventry synth greats, 'Sea Of Wires'.(Highly recommended so click here).
The cassette didn't have any artwork like above;just a tape and a letter on AV headed notepaper.And the track listing was completely different,with different tracks,which,so I gather, was specific to each tape he (Adrian Smith) sent out in those early days.
Played this to death in 1980 in all its cold, disconnected, majesty. This has everything I love about Minimal Synth music; analogue synths,tunes played by hand, emotionless production,and a certain air of melancholia. "She Goes To Your Heart" is a perfect example of all this in action, ticks all the boxes of Minimal Synth; except for dancing to in a trendy Brooklyn nite-spot,but good for the last dance with that fat bird.

Tracks:

1. Motorway
2. Power Station
3. Maximum ontrast
4. A Career In Dancing
5. She Goes to Your Heart
6. The Elephant man
7. Amongst the Portraits
8. Pressure
9. Frequently Repeat
10. Lufthansa
11. Stay Awake
12. Urge
13. Stuntman
14. You Typewriter
15. Another View

DOWNLOAD to get another view on things HERE!

The Digital Dinosaurs ‎– "Huh?..." (Spott Records PUSS 5) 1980

While we're on the subject of Coventry,we may as well check out other groups from that gray city.
One of the leading lights,and most musically gifted, of the UK DIY cassette underground,were the prolific pop machine that was The Digital Dinosaurs. They had beards(well...one!) and dared to write well crafted and melodious pop songs. Disturbingly they were quite obviously from that 'lost generation who were too young for Hippie,yet too old for Punk......like Joe 'Woody' Strummer.But like Joe,we will forgive them for that,although Mr Mellor will not be forgiven for being Posh.
These jolly ditties are pervaded throughout with a splash of 'pythonesque' humour,which is the only thing thats dated about this cassette.The songs ,thankfully are classic examples of  British pop songcraft that follows that fine tradition from 'Love Me Do' via Donovan to The Digital Dinosaurs,and still surfaces today. I say Donovan,as he was a great favourite of the Dinosaurs,but they sound not at all like the randy scotch troubadour.A more accurate comparison would have to be The Kinks in their English whimsy phase.Only The Cleaners From Venus beat them in the DIY world for such melodious joy.

Tracklist:
1 Army Green 4:47
2 Huh Prologue 1:00
3 Boots 2:55
4 What A Waste 2:42
5 The Man Who Would Not Live 3:08
6 Amy Turtle 2:44
7 Nuclear Nightclub 5:18
8 Pinkie's Flesh Crawled 2:45
9 Batman 2:33
10 Dinosaur Disco 1:35
11 Dreaming In My Sleep 2:31
12 Tumble-Drier Link 1:11
13 Tex Thistle 3:24
14 Superella 4:32
15 Secret Jehovah 1:35
16 The Girl Who Goes On Nine 3:21
17 B66 4BQ 3:11
18 Tones Link 0:19
19 Organs 2:06
20 Hole 2:51

DIGITAL DOWNLOAD HERE!

Stress ‎– "The Big Wheel" (Adventures In Reality Recordings ‎– ARR 014) 1985

In 1985, one of the worst years in pop music, Stress and Adventures In Reality goes plastic with a mini album. The title of which seems to mimic the atrocious Heaven 17's soul-synth atrocity "Crushed By The Wheels Of Industry". Stress obviously had chart ambitions, which is never a force for good in any medium. 
They had also invested in better equipment, used a proper recording studio,which results in a harder EBM influenced sound, and do I sense a sampler? Thankfully there's no Orchestral Stabs,or any "Oh Yeah!"'s;but a few Reagan samples and the 'Bagpuss wakes up' harp glissando. Anyone one who samples from "Bagpuss" deserves a medal in my book. I never listened to anything Reagan had to say at the time,and on the evidence of these samples the bloke was a complete prick! They (the USA) would have done a lot better having Bagpuss as president, a puppet with a heart who could tell a mean yarn.(Also 'Bagpuss' had a soundtrack that rivals 'The Wicker Man' for weird dark folkiness.)
On the subject of 1985 being one of thee worst years in pop music;......we now know this not to be true.At the time it was,but little did we realise that every year from 1989 to 2016 would be worse. 1973 used to be cited as the worst, but this is total crap; it was jam packed with prime prog rock (not including Yes or ELP of course), 1974-76 were markedly worse; even Can were shite then!
This album is very 1985 sounding,with sophisticated sequencing, car skidding and speech samples, thudding drum machine kick drums, and an amusing attempt to sing like the bloke from Front 242.
As a francophone, the tune "Slaves To Beat" never fails to amuse me, and the French in general, because in French the word 'Beat' refers to a male sexual appendage; written 'Bite' its pronounced phonetically as 'Beet', aka Beat (titter titter)......how amusing eh kids?

Tracklist:

A1 The Big Wheel
A2 Elizabeth Selwyn
A3 Get The Most
B1 Slaves To Beat
B2 No Sane Alternative
B3 The Price You Pay

DOWNLOAD and go down on the beat HERE!

Stress ‎– "Restraint" (Adventures In Reality Recordings ‎– ARR 010) 1984

Stress's next tape after their incredibly watery debut,was 'Restraint'.Which is ironic,because their sound before 1984 showed considerable restraint; especially vocally. There is a marked inprovement on this one.The vocals are marginally more confident,and the music marginally harder. Moving more towards the Belgian end of the minimal synth world rather than the camp English androgyny set. You could probably dance to some of this?

Tracklist:

A1 Engrave The Name
A2 Nothing New
A3 Raga
A4 Hide From View
A5 I Go To Pieces
A6 Semi-D Prison
B1 Down Through The Years
B2 Freespeak
B3 Enigma
B4 Rule Of Force
B5 The Pulse Thickens
B6 4th Dimension

DOWNLOAD without restraint or stress HERE!

Stress ‎– "Help Comes Too Late" ( Adventures In Reality Recordings ‎– ARR 005) 1983

Stress,is appropriate,especially if you are a Manchester City fan today......losing 3-1 to low-budget rivals, the mighty Leicester.Just gotta dick Arsenal next week and its all over bar the shouting.
Of course Leicester is about 20 minutes down the M69 from Coventry,home of Adventures In Reality,but also guilty of Two Tone;the first in a long line of forcing white men to dance fad's!
Luckily, Adventures In reality never tried to do that to us.
One in a long tradition of 'synth duo's',Stress, was Alan Rider's, head honcho of Adventures In Reality fanzine/Label, foray into the pop world. I assume he is one of those shadowy figures on the insert.
If anyone's ever been to Coventry,they will know what a despondency inducing,concrete clad, architectural atrocity it is.....post WW2.Once a medieval treasure ,second only to York,it was bombed flat by the Luftwaffe;and then finished off by British modernist architecture of the 1950's.
This would explain this alienated and despondent synth pop outing.
Its kinda like Soft Cell with even wimpier vocals; a Softer Cell if you prefer?
Its fairly anemic stuff,which is all part of its charm; Front 242 it is not,and very English. 

Tracklist

A1 Help Comes Too Late
A2 Work Ethic
A3 Love Mafia
A4 I Stand Alone
A5 Saving Graces
A6 Perfection
A7 Distortion
B1 Hiroshima Blues
B2 Crying In The Wilderness
B3 Tribal Rite
B4 Tin Soldiers
B5 Glacial
B6 Help Comes Too Late Too

DOWNLOAD without stress HERE!

Attrition ‎– "Death House" (Adventures In Reality Recordings ‎– ARR 11) 1982

According to Discogs, this was the tape that invented "Dark Ambient",which is ,as usual, total crap.That accolade probably goes to Kluster,or  at the latest Lustmord?
I'll use more from Discogs' slushy superlatives, 'Rich Shadowy electronic soundscapes......interweaving the ephemeral with the operatic'...what?......'gloomy atmospheres mixed with prodding beats;classical bombast melded with ambient noise'......there's more!......'enveloping listeners in a dense nebula'.
Put that sick bucket aside now, as this isn't too far from the truth. I'd write something similar myself, if I wasn't listening to Leicester City beating Liverpool 2-0 on the radio.So I might as well snaffle somebody else's pretentious waffle.I'd watch it on TV but the rights have been bought up by the ruling elite to sell it back to us for a massive profit.
"Death House" tonight, means the death of the working classes right to the stuff they invented to entertain themselves. At least we're fighting back in the music world by taking down the record companies. There's more music around now than there has ever been,and it's mostly free or very cheap. Reclaim the streets, and come on yee Foxes to reclaim the Premier League for real football clubs.

Tracklist:

A - Crawling
B - Dead Of Night

DOWNLOAD some classical bombast in a dense nebula HERE!

We Be Echo ‎– "Nothing Left" (Mystery Hearsay ‎– MH 013) 1986

As I have a dearth of We Be Echo tapes,as in 'Nothing Left'.....ie one "Ceza Evi". I nicked this off of Wet Dreams(he's nicked a few off me so thats ok then innit?),but there's two tracks missing!.....very poor show.Also sorry about the shite scan,can't find a better one......anyone?
Nonetheless, Kevin Thorne has stuck to his guns in 1986,and reproduced more Old skool Industrial,with a minimal synth edge to counter the swathes of Power Electronics, and boring dogma laden  generic Industrial that followed a strict formula and dress code;just like all the music tribes before and since......its that Hive Mind again kids.
We Be Echo, thankfully, resisted the pressure to follow the swarm, and continued to create the minimal classic Industrial of the Cabaret/TG template from half a decade before.
This is the kind of music I could listen to all day, forget being innovative, sometimes one would like to hear something classic done well. Just like a well painted landscape,there's no point in not doing something just because its been done before. In this case, its a well painted sonic landscape of our 'modern' post-industrial, over informed planet.

Tracklist:
A1 You Are Everything
A2 Punish You (Part Two)
A3 Never Mind (Survival Version)
A4 Walkout
A5 Butterfly
A6 The Marksman
A7 Maggot
B1 Anyone But You
B2 She's Gone
B3 Your Face
B4 Whiplash
B5 looking For you
B6 Bogeyman


DOWNLOAD until there's nothing left HERE!