Wednesday 14 November 2018

Vita Noctis ‎– "In The Face Of ... Death" (Vita Noctis Self-released) 1984



Classic bedroom Dark Wave from Belgium on the cusp of 1985.
That drum machine is a classic sound that will live forever.
I'll hazard a guess at it being a later version of a boss Dr Rhythm;the one that came with its own padded silver case.At least, I hopeit is, but i suspect its just a TR808.
It says,'Recorded at the Noctis studio with 2amps and a cassettedeck'......in other words in the Noctis/Kips brothers bedroom, with girlfriend Martine reporting for duty.
The total lack of reverb, echo or any ambiance at all is impressive to say the least.All wet noise absorbed by the duvets and soft furnishings.The vocals,delivered in a strong Belgian accent, sound at times as if some drunk demon is on lead vocals, enunciating the slurred words backwards, like some hidden message on a Queen album.At times it even sounds like they had forgotten their lines but couldn't be arsed to do it again.....my kind of stuff.
This is the sound of acoustically dead teenage depression from the Belgian suburbs......wouldn't you be depressed too?

Tracklisting:

A1 Intro
A2 Pitch-Dark
A3 Introductary Works
A4 Hade
B1 Civilisation
B2 Hearing Noises
B3 These Lies
B4 Cleaning Day

15 comments:

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Jonny Zchivago said...

Just had to publish this spam...it could almost be from a very weird fan until the end bit.

Jonny Zchivago said...

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Zopo Eighties Reünie said...

I would say it's a Roland TR-606 most of the time although there is a handclap here and there which is not on a tr606. Maybe from other source. Streetview Google the adress on cover shows the studio :-) typical Belgian depressing street. Nice people though.

Jonny Zchivago said...

Yeah, it was the handclap that suggested a dr rythm DR 110 and/or a 808,and the snare steered me away from the 808.

JG said...

"Dr. Ojoka & The Low Sperm Counters", what a great name for a band.
Thanks for the posting, my kind of stuff too. Btw, Dark Entries released the full discography of Vita Noctis some time ago, you can find it on Bandcamp. A big thank you! Cheers, JG

Zopo Eighties Reünie said...

The snare screams tr606 but...
https://youtu.be/jaoPaLMrz1E
you could be right about the DR 110

Jonny Zchivago said...

JG....a fine name indeed, I quite like 'Low Sperm Count' on its own....of course the more butch among us would prefer 'high Sperm Count', but the latest figures say sperm is on the way out...if you know what i mean LOL.
Yeah I noticed the dark Entries rerelease when i was nicking the tracklisting from discogs.

Jonny Zchivago said...

Zopo...yes the DR 110 was my first drum box....loved that clap sound. Then i sold it and went digital with the budget Korg ddm 110.....seems i only used boxes with the number 110 on them!?....pretty shit, but again I wish i kept it!...https://youtu.be/RS01J3QKxqs

Zopo Eighties Reünie said...

Yeah a friend had that ddm 110, we borrowed it a few times. Very agressive sound, newer technology. My old time favorite the Korg KR-55. Owned the DR-55, the TR-606 and the TR-909😖 but never the KR-55. Could buy one now thru eBay but what for....

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Jonny Zchivago said...

It seems to have copyright issues????.....i'll re-up it to google drive. now.

JG said...

Hi! I'm not going to pretend that I understand something about drum machines and analog synthesizers (I wish I did), but the discussion about the drum kit caught my curiosity. Here's what the bio of the band at Dark Entries says: "They recorded their earliest songs onto a 2-track tape deck in their bedroom studio using second-hand equipment they could afford: Roland TR-808 drum machine, Casiotone MT-31, Ibanez bass guitar and a Korg MS-20 keyboard." Thanks once again! Cheers, JG

Jonny Zchivago said...

Well bugger me! ...fine detective work JG.

Zopo Eighties Reünie said...

Hhmm, a muffled tr808