A Split Second - Mambo Witch (1988)

   

 A Split-Second was a Belgian electronic body music band. The duo — Marc Ickx and Peter Bonne (under the artist name Chrismar Chayell) — were active from their debut in 1986 until they split up in 1991, and A Split-Second continued as an Ickx solo project.

   After signing to Antler Records, A Split-Second made their debut in 1986 with the single, "Flesh". It was followed the next year by another single, "Rigor Mortis", and the album Ballistic Statues.

In 1988, they were signed to the american label Wax Trax! Records, and released the albums A Split-Second and From The Inside in the US. The singles "Rigor Mortis", "Mambo Witch" and "Colosseum Crash" (featuring guest vocals by Dead Kennedys frontman Jello Biafra) were also chart-topping hits. New members Fedjean Venvelt (guitars) and Peter Boone (keyboards) joined the band for their first US tour.

    Their 1990 album, Kiss of Fury, featured the track "The Parallax View", which was also a successful single and   saw the band moving towards more of a guitar-based sound. Nico Mansy (keyboards) joined the band for their second US tour. "Flesh" peaked in the UK singles chart at #68 in December 1991.

  In 1991, Bonne became involved in a side project, Wasteland, which soon became more important for him than A Split-Second. The duo split up, with Ickx continuing A Split-Second as a solo project. Another album, Vengeance, was released in 1995.

Mambo Witch is a hit from 1988 and it's one of their best moments. A classic industrial in 3 different versions and you really can't tell wich is the best.

                                                          Download     here

Anne Clark - R.S.V.P. (Live at Utrecht, Holland). 1987

   More beautiful dark electro music from Anne Clark! This is a live cd published in 1988 from a 1987 concert at The Music Centrum - Utrecht, Holland. Some of her best songs icluded here played live, with much enthusiasm and good taste. 

   The composers - besides Anne Clark - are three big names of the '80's electronic music. John Foxx from the Ultravox, Vini Reilly from Durutti Column and David Harrow, Known from Anne Clark's best hits (Sleeper in Metropolis, Our Darkness, Wallies) and from his collaboration with Jah Wobble and Atari Teenage Riot.

    In 1982, Anne Clark published her first album, The Sitting Room, with songs written by herself. On the following albums, Changing Places (1983), Joined up Writing (1984) and Hopeless Cases (1987), Clark benefited from an acquaintance from the Warehouse: keyboardist David Harrow contributed as the co-author. The songs created by this team, such as “Sleeper in Metropolis,” “Our Darkness,” and “Wallies,” have since been considered milestones of the 1980s and 1990s.

In 1985, Clark released the album Pressure Points. It was created in collaboration with John Foxx, who wrote the music and plays on the first five tracks.

All the best songs from these first records are here, with Anne's voice playing the first role.

                                               Download     here

The Passion of Covers (A tribute to Bauhaus). 1996

    Finally it comes out that '90's was a very good decade for gothic rock. 

    There were a lot of great bands back then but, partly because they came right after the milestones of the '80's (Bauhaus, Siouxsie, Virgin Prunes, Sound, Cure, Sisters of Mercy, Mission........), partly because the gothic rock passed underground, they remained known to only a few people. But there's always time for great bands to be discovered.

    Cleopatra Records, founded in LA in 1992, and specialized in gothic rock, punk and industrial music.

   By publishing artists like Rozz Williams, Razed in Black, Leather Strip, Gary Newman, it became a legendary name for the '90's.

 


  This compilation is a tribute to Bauhaus. Some of the best bands of that time have the chance to create their own atmospheres to these classic songs. Bands from Finland (Two Witches), America (Faith and the Muse, Electric Hellfire Club) and Australia (Ikon).

Tracklist

1. The Electric Hellfire Club - Bela Lugosie's Dead

2. The Shroud - The Passion of Lovers

3. Ex Voto - Slice of Life

4. Faith and the Muse - Hollow Hills

5. Fahrenheit 451 with Eva O. - The Three Shadows (PART II)

6. Kill Switch...Klick - Dark Entries

7. Black Atmosphere - Music in Plastic

8. Two Witches (feat. Shade Factory) - King Volcano

9. This Ascension - In the Flat Field

10.Ikon - She's in Parties

11.Wreckage - Lagartija Nick

12.Eleven Shadows - Terror Couple Kill Colonel

13. Blade Fetish - All We Ever Wanted Was Everything

Take it here

ACHMI (Nick Sebekopoulos)

Nick Sebekopoulos was playing guitar for The Drops - a 90s darkwave band from Piraeus, Greece. They had one 7" single (Fatal Fall, 1994) and one LP (Suicide in Heaven, 1995).  The band created beautifull soundscapes of melancholy and they remained a legendary name till today.

You can visit their website here

There is an excellent presentation of The Drops and you can also download their work in this blog

 "Suicide in Heaven" was their last recording and band's members played for some other greek bands. Guitar player Nick Sebekopoulos played later for Ding an Sich, but in 2001 or 2002 (im not sure about that) released, in limited copies, his solo work (voice and electric guitar only) in cd form, by the name ACHMI (Silver). I was lucky enough to Know Nick and meet him sometimes back then and he gave me one of the copies and here it is!

It's a collection of dreamy and melancholic songs in greek language. The guitar creates beautifull melodies and the voice sings some "strange" but fascinating lyrics.



Take the trip  here

The Birthday Party - Mutiny! (1983)

Birthday Party was the most impressive thing that happen to rock after the punk explosion and Joy Division! Their music was a cry from deep within - punk in its own unique way!

  They found little commercial success during their career. Though often indirect, their influence has been far-reaching, and have been called one of "the darkest and most challenging post-punk groups to emerge in the early '80s." 

 In his lyrics, Nick Cave combined "sacred and profane" things, using Old Testament imagery^, with stories about sin, curses and damnation.

Their 1981 single "Release the bats" was particularly influential in the gothic scene. Some of their material was also qualified as no wave.

                            Mutiny! is the band's final studio recording, released in 1983.

                                                               Download  here

                     "Express yourself! Say something loudly!"