Biba - The Album
Format: LP
Style: Italo disco, Synth pop
Label: Connect
https://www.discogs.com/Biba-The-Album/release/4259251









A1 Remember Me
A2 Do Your Thing
A3 Hangin' On
A4 Strange
A5 Break Of Dawn
B1 Hollywood Is Much Too far
B2 Wanting You
B3 Locomotion
B4 Won't You Come Back Again
B5 This Night Is Like Magic

This is a record that took me awhile to acquire and sad circumstances soon after has made it even more special to me. I bought this from artist and record dealer Krister Krycko Petersson, who soon after tragically passed away (RIP). I bought many records from him over the years and this sadly turned out to be the very last one.

I have been looking for this specific album for a couple of years, ever since I heard the song Wanting you, wich I stumbled on by accident on youtube. I has a lovely, cool synth-riff wich I absolutely adore. It also has this very genuine 80-ish sound that is irresisteble to me.

Biba herself is a bit of a mystery. I suspect that she is Swedish, but I have had a hard time finding anything about her on the internet. She has done some vocals for frensh producer Jean-Pierre Massiera who is credited as co writer on two tracks on the album under the name Areissam. The album is produced by a T. Cassidy who's real name probably is Jyrki Leo Jantunen from Finland. It also has a finnish songwriter in Pekka Hakala who uses the name Jay Havanna on the cover. I have no clue to why there is so many pseudonyms on this record, but somehow it adds to the album's mystique.

The sound of the album is like a mix of italo disco and Samantha Fox with a splash of Madonna. Cheesy synths, some distorted guitars and the laid back vocals by Biba herself. She doesn't really have a great voice, but it works for the songs and just adds to the albums charm.

Wanting you is the albums stand out song, but Do your thing and Hangin' on is also worth checking out. I will put the video for Do your thing at the bottom just because it just reaks of the 80's. But make sure you also check out Wanting you if you like italo and great synth-riffs.

I bought this one for about 16 €.

If anyone has more information 'bout the record or of Biba I would love to hear from you.

High-Functioning Flesh ‎– Definite Structures
Format:LP
Style: EBM, Industrial
Label: Dais Records
https://www.discogs.com/High-Functioning-Flesh-Definite-Structures/release/7019275








A1 Hunger Cries
A2 Lattice Of Coincidence
A3 The Plunge
A4 Afterbirth
A5 Sequence Form
B1 Whispered Steel
B2 Grey Scent
B3 Confuse The Call
B4 Grotesque Light
B5 Mistakes Were Made

This is in my humble opinion one of the best albums of 2015. High-Functioning Flesh is perfect if you're nostaligic bout the 80's, love funky EBM mixed with punk-attitude and good melodies. The perfect combination for me.

HFF is Greg Vand and Susan Subtract from Los Angeles, USA. They have been making music togehter since 2013. They seem to draw inspiration from bands like Cabaret Voltaire and Portion Control as well as a healthy dose of punk. The songs are funky  and the sound is a mix of analogue synth sounds and industrial percussions. The voice of Susan Subtract gives it edge, punkiness and agression.

It's really hard to pick a favorite song since they are all good. It's really wonderful to find an album without any real weak song. I sincerly urge you to give this album a good listen.

If this is your cup of tea I also recomend you to take a look at Susan Subtracts earlier band Branes also. A bit more gothic and expeimental, but also interesting.

A1 Herrar och hundar
A2 Moralekonomin / Ofreda biståndet
B1 Idioter av församlingen
B2 I en värld utan hjältar

What will happen if three guys that have been involved with punk, indiepop and electro (CA Army, Kitty and the K, The Kick) decides to do EBM in swedish? Some call it Hipster EBM, some call it DAF-like and alot of people (yours truly included) call it damn good music.

Herrar och Hundar has a tribal kind of drum beat that at the start that makes me think about Adam and the Ants. A really cool track to introduce the band.

Moralekonomin / Ofreda biståndet has a more industrial drumbeat and even dares to re-introduce the awful orchestrahit sound that plagued alot of tracks in the early 90's. To make matters worse they also put a melodica in the mix. Somehow they make the impossible mix work as a charm.

Idioter av församlingen is a kick ass track. Put on your boots and dance. This i brilliant! Alla mot alla - Alle gegen alle.

I en värld utan hjältar is a bit quiter and my least favorite track by the band. Dreamy and quirky, but not really my cup of tea.

A    Drop the deal
B1  Drop the deal (Rough percussion dub_mix)
B2  Drop the deal (Rough beat-box mix)

Another project by couple and founders of R & S Records, Renaat Vandepapelier and Sabine Maes. With Code 61 they teamed up with Jack Mauer and Rony Brack. Drop the deal was released in 1988 and one of few New Beat tracks to have success on dance charts outside Belgium.

It's a very cheesy track and the band adds additional cheese with their goofy performance of the song (see video). But it also has a descent beat and a very catchy melody. Contains samples of the pope? and spoken words from the tv-show Miami Vice.

The b-side doesn't add anything. Boring remixes that have been done only to have some grooves on both sides of the record.

Found at the Emmaus-Björkå charity shop at a cost of 1,15 €.

A1  Synergy
A2  Sweet young thing
A3  Raspberry infundibulum
A4  War prayer
A5  Adam Strange
B1  Jesus loves Amerika (Fundemental)
B2  Transcendental
B3  Misinformation
B4  Raptyouare
B5  In Gorabachev we trust

There was a Shamen before Ebeneezer Goode, Progen '91 and rappper Mr C. The group was founded in Aberdeen Scotland and released there first album Drop in 1987. The band then played psychedelic rock.

One of the members, Colin Angus, became interested in the growing dance scene and pioneering house gruops such as S-Express and M/A/R/R/S. The Shamen soon started to interpret those influences in their own music, and the electronic aspects was allready prominent in their second release, In Gorbachev we trust from 1989.

In Gorbachev we trust is a really interesting album. The mix of psychedelic rock and electronic dance music makes quite a nice concoction. I also like the political aspects of the lyrics wich talks about the cold war that was coming to some kind of closure at the time of the records release.

My favorite tracks are Jesus loves Amerika, Transcendental and Synergy. I found this album at the store Skivhugget in Göteborg and payed 7,49 € for it.

A1  Lenses
A2  Tell me
A3  When I look into your eyes
A4  No turning back
B1  Hourglass
B2  On a cloud
B3  In the air
B4  Interobserver

It's two years since Soft Metals debut album and their musical formula is still the same. The masters of dreamy arpeggios is back with a new album called Lenses. They keep doing very beautiful and dreamy electronic music with a vintage, analogue feel.

 I just love the soundscape of Soft Metal's music combined with the angelic voice of Patricia Hall. Her voice sometimes remind me of Julee Cruise, the voice of the Twin Peaks theme Falling.

Lenses is a laidback album, altough some of the tracks have danceble beats. But for me the music on this album is more suitable for a lazy sunday morning in bed with a loved one then for the club.

A  Mandate my ass (New beat mix)
B  Mandate my ass (Ghentlon acid mix)

This was also found at the Emmaus-Björkå charity shop. The words New beat and acid made me pick it up. At 1,15 € per record it doesnt hurt your wallet that much if it turn out to be a miss.

It's not a great record, but it's a very typical New beat release. I prefer the Ghentlon acid mix on the b-side. It has more interesting noises going on and a better groove. Sadly it's not interesting enough for 6 minutes, and becomes a bit boring after a while.


Renaat Vandepapeliere (founder of R & S Records) with Daniël Holderberg and Patrick Degraeve are responsible for writing the track.

A1  Terror
A2  Brain death
B1  To live in peace
B2  Innocence of death

This is a gem that I found at the Emmaus-Björkå charity shop for 1,15 €.

The Terror E.P. by Nautilus was written and produced by Arndt Pecher, Markus Pecher & Rolf Maier-Bode back in 1990. It has a very old-school techno sound. There are alot of acid noises flying around hard beats and steady rythms. The voices are samples releated to the Gulf War, and you can hear George Bush Sr and Saddam Hussein in the mix.

This was released by Suck me plasma, a label created by Andreas Tomalla (Bigod 20, Robotiko Rejekto and label Zoth Ommog).

It's a very cool EP and you get four very strong songs. My favorites are To live in peace and Brain death.

A1  Håll mig hårt
A2  Vad tänker du på
A3  Jag är så rädd
B1  Jag orkar inte mer
B2  Maskiner
B3  Känner så få

Mögel (mold) was a swedish punk band from Farsta. The band started back in 1978 and was part of the early punk movement in Sweden. They played alot of gigs (ca 500) in Sweden, Belgium France and former Czechoslovakia. Unfortunatly they were a bit reluctant to record their music as they thought their music was supposed to be heard performed live. That is supposedly the reason why they did'nt realese more then 6 songs and that it took until 1981 for their first and only release.

Mögel was Ulrika Malmgren on vocals, Gitte Lilja on base, Marie Wrengler on drums and Eva Bergström on guitar. Theyhad a very specifik sound that differed alot from other bands during the era. In fact they sounded very post-punk years before the new wave and had a very edgy and strutty way of playing.

The label Massproduktion did a re-release of the record on CD in 2009, wich also included som demo's and live-recordings. The band reunited for the release and did a few gigs. Marie Wrengler unfortunatly struggled with cancer at the time and died in 2011 only 49 years old.

The really cool artwork for the cover is by French painter Olivia Télé Clavel. I found my copy at Tradera and payed 4,68 €, a real bargain.

Also check out this awesome documentary from Swedish televison of the early Swedish punk scene. Mögel is featured along other bands as Incest Brothers, Ebba Grön and KSMB.
http://www.oppetarkiv.se/video/1124436/faderneslandet-och-punkrockarna