fockewulf 190 – “body heat” (download)
Fockewulf 190 were a Human League-Ultravox-Kraftwerk-inspired Italian duo who were most active in the 80′s, although as recently as 2010, they released a cover of the classic Kraftwerk track “The Model.” They take their name from a WWII German fighter jet.
gobble gobble – “lawn knives” (download)
Canada’s Gobble Gobble no longer performs or releases music under this name. They have since changed their name to Born Gold. Either way, their music is hard to describe. Have a listen.
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madrid – “bam bam brother (digits remix)” (download)
Toronto’s Digits smooths out fellow Torontonians Madrid‘s track “Bam Bam Brother” from last year’s Original Message LP. I love this stuff.
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delayscape – “stereo delay” (download)
Some Aphex Twin-esque electronic music from Denmark’s Delayscape. Delayscape’s Morse Disco release is a double disc, and it’s chock full of greatness.
bill wyman – “(si,si) je suis un rock star” (download)
Bill Wyman is best known as the bassist for the Rolling Stones from 1962-1992. In 1982, he released his self-titled third album, which spawned this minor hit.
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fulgeance – “vilnius bump” (download)
From the new Fulgeance LP To All of You, which recently came out on Melting Pot Music. A while back, I posted this French producer’s remix of Architeq‘s “Birds of Prey,” which is just as great as this.
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hudson mohawke – “thunder bay” (download)
From his newest EP Satin Panthers on Warp. This one is a neck-breaker.
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prgz – “chevy (feat. jackie chain)” (download)
I posted about Alabama’s Paper Route Gangstaz a while back due to their catchy, Diplo-produced track “Stop N Go.” Toward the end of 2010 they released their Born 2 Ball mixtape, (which gets my vote for one of the worst covers of the year). “Chevy” is from this mixtape. I’m not too into most of the other songs, but this once has be bouncing around a bit. You can stream/download the rest of the mixtape right here.
latent sea – “street priest” (download)
Latent Sea is Oakland, CA’s Tom Baugh (aka Crested) and Matthew Holt of San Francisco’s Broken Figures. They pride themselves on using mostly hardware synthesizers. They are working on a full length and in the meantime will be releasing free songs online.
soundcloud
moebius-plank-neumeier – “all repro” (download)
In 1982, Kluster‘s Dieter Moebius collaborated with German producer Conny Plank and Guru Guru drummer Mani Neumeier to release this Krautrock-meets-electronic-meets-dance LP Zero Set. “All Repro” is one of the standout tracks from it.
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cat stevens – “was dog a doughnut?” (download)
I’m sure when you think of early electro innovators, you don’t think of Cat Stevens, do you? While he’s one of my all-time favorite musicians, hearing a song like this coming from the man who wrote “Wild World” is quite a surprise. Recorded in 1976, this instrumental is considered by some to be one of the first “electro” songs.
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john foxx & the maths – “summerland” (download)
From their 2011 release Interplay. John Foxx was the mastermind behind 80′s electronic experimenters Ultravox. This is his collaboration with producer Benge.
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1983 release from British alternative/synth pop band The The. I was a big fan of these guys in the early 90′s, when they were constantly being played on MTV’s 120 Minutes.
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Here are my favorite releases of 2011, in no particular order. I’ve made a Spotify playlist if you’d like to check them out.
Light Asylum – In Tension
John Maus – We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves
Trust – Candy Walls 7″
Austra – Feel It Break
Com Truise – Galactic Melt
Unknown Mortal Orchestra – S/T
Active Child – You Are All I See
Blood Orange – Coastal Grooves
Necro Deathmort – Music of Bleak Origin
Class Actress – Rapprocher
Charles Bradley – No Time For Dreaming
Young Galaxy – Shapeshifting
Tune-Yards – WHOKILL
Future Islands – On the Water
Mwahaha – Mwahaha
mux mool – “raw gore” (download)
A neck-breaker of a track from his upcoming LP on Ghostly International, Planet High School (out February 7).
website
asap rocky – “trilla” (download)
I was hesitant to check out ASAP Rocky for a while due to his name, but I caved in to the hype and gave his Live Love ASAP mixtape a chance. I’m still letting it all sink in, and while some of the tracks on it are decent, this one really stood out, mainly because of the beat.
amadou & mariam – “sabali (miike snow remix)” (download)
Amadou & Mariam are a blind couple from Mali. They have worked with Manu Chao and opened for Scissor Sisters. Earlier this year, a remix compilation was released featuring this beautiful remix from Miike Snow, as well as remixes from Vitalic, Ashley Beedle, Yuksek and others.
vernon lenoir – “dwelling” (download)
I was first turned on to Vernon Lenoir weirdo cut-and-paste audio collages by the always-great French label Ego Twister. This past July, net label Chinstrap Music released Vernon’s latest release, The Rites of Sausage. Hard to describe as a whole, as it jumps all over the place, but you can listen to the rest of the tracks over at the Chinstrap Music site.
absolute body control – “the man i wanna be” (download)
Another great one from Absolute Body Control. This catchy synth track is from their hard to find 1983 cassette Figures. This 8 song release was released on Belgium’s Body Records.
g.a.n.g. – “incantations” (download)
An early 80′s Italo disco “cover” of Mike Oldfield‘s “Foreign Affair.” Much more upbeat and a bit more dance-able. I’ve already sampled the hell out of it.
ann steel – “my time” (download)
Originally released in 1979, and recently released this year by Half Machine. This is a collaborative record between Italian composer Roberto Cacciapaglia and model/singer Ann Steel. Great, out there electronic pop.
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wild xmas with bomarr, vol. 6 (download)
Volume 6 in my ongoing Wild Xmas series is now complete. This year, I’m requesting a $1 donation to help cover server/bandwidth costs, but this donation is by NO MEANS NECESSARY in order to download the mix. You are more than welcome to download any of the Wild Xmas mixes absolutely free, but if you like what I’m doing and want to help out, I have provided a PayPal donate button at the top of the download page.
This mix is even weirder than the past mixes. Featuring off the wall Xmas tracks from Treacherous Three, R. Stevie Moore, The Go-Go’s (UK), Florian Filsinger (who did the cover art), and more.
Enjoy!!
doris norton – “a.d.a. converter” (download)
While Doris Norton‘s music doesn’t technically sound “groundbreaking” by today’s standards, it was certainly very much ahead of its time when she was recording this experimental electronic/borderline electro music in the early 80′s. This release, Personal Computer, came out in 1984. What makes her even cooler? She was sponsored by Apple AND Roland.
siriusmo – “nights off” (download)
Siriusmo is Moritz Friedrich, a Berlin-based producer who releases music on Modeselektor‘s Monkeytown Records. He does lots of remixes, and is rumored to be a prolific graffiti artist. This song, (from his 2009 release The Uninvited Guest), is reminiscent of some of Aphex Twin‘s slicker productions.
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futurisk – “army now” (download)
Futurisk was a synthpop band from Florida who were mostly active in the late ’70′s/early 80′s. Their Player Piano EP is probably their most well-known release, which was recently re-released as Player Piano LP on Minimal Wave records last year. James Murphy (LCD Soundsystem) is also a big fan. You can hear a slight variation of this song in the video right here.
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